Sailor Trek: The Next Generation
by timetracker2643
Summary: The second generation of the Enterprise meets the Scouts. A Borg to Remember.
1. Chapter 1 - The Sailor Scouts Drop In

soton@aol.com (Soton)  
  
  
  
Sailor Trek TNG  
  
  
  
Here's part 1 of the Scouts visit with Captain Picard and crew on board  
  
the Enterprise D. Enjoy!  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Standard Questionably Useful Disclaimer:  
  
Sailor Moon and all related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi;  
  
and are copyright to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DIC and whoever  
  
else.  
  
Star Trek The Next Generation was created by the late Great Bird of the  
  
Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry; and is owned and copyrighted by Paramount  
  
Pictures. Based upon Star Trek, also created by Gene Roddenberry.  
  
This story (such as it is) is MINE!!!  
  
This fanfic is intended solely for entertainment purposes and no  
  
violation of said copyrights is intended or implied. Permission granted  
  
to copy this to other web pages as long as this disclaimer is attached,  
  
and the text of the story is unmodified.  
  
  
  
  
  
Prologue:  
  
The small planet orbited it's sun, the inhabitants blissfully  
  
unaware of the menace that threatened their world. This was  
  
understandable, as their technology was only just entering the  
  
equivalent of Earth in the nineteenth century. So they continued on  
  
with their lives, ignorant of the large cube shaped spacecraft  
  
approaching their world.  
  
The ship entered into a high orbit of the world and began it's  
  
silent probing. It was large enough that the inhabitants could see it  
  
silhouetted against the sky. Many of them debated about the nature of  
  
the mysterious object and what it portended for their future. As is  
  
natural when facing the unknown, debate turned into panic as the  
  
residents fled, convinced that this heralded the end of their world.  
  
Ignorant of the havoc it was causing, the large craft remained up  
  
there, silently probing.  
  
Fortunately for them, their level of technology was too low to be  
  
if any real interest to the aliens. It turned and left the system as  
  
enigmatically silent as it had entered. Slowly the lives of those below  
  
returned to normal as they realized that Armageddon would not come this  
  
day.  
  
Yes, the world was too primitive to be of use. But another reason  
  
the ship had left was because it had detected a subspace energy surge  
  
several light years away of a type which indicated an unknown, yet  
  
advanced, type of spacecraft.  
  
Advanced enough for them to use. To assimilate.  
  
And if they should resist assimilation? Irrelevant. Resistance  
  
was futile. They would be assimilated. They would become one with the  
  
Borg.  
  
All would eventually become one with the Borg.  
  
  
  
The spacecraft that drew the interest of the Borg drifted slowly,  
  
the facets of it's crystalline surfaces blackened and cracked. The lone  
  
occupant was in similarly bad shape. He groaned, slowly regaining  
  
consciousness, then looked dazedly about before asking the obvious  
  
questions, "What happened? Where am I?"  
  
Slowly his memory of recent events returned and he clenched his  
  
fists in rage. He had captured the Sailor Scouts. The only one who  
  
could still fight him was Sailor Moon, and she was helpless before his  
  
power. It would have only been a matter of time before he had defeated  
  
her as well. If it hadn't been for that... that... that little, pink  
  
haired *brat*... Somehow she had damaged the main power system, causing  
  
a massive power feedback that had damaged virtually every system and  
  
ending in that explosion...  
  
The thought of that sobered him. How was it he was still alive?  
  
When the main power blew, the ship should have been utterly destroyed and  
  
him along with it.  
  
No matter. He could answer that question later. First he had to  
  
see to repairing his ship, then he could begin plotting his revenge.  
  
Against those that had abandoned him. Those that had betrayed him.  
  
Against those Sailor Scouts.  
  
Especially Sailor Moon. And that caped fool as well.  
  
His brooding was interrupted by the appearance of a figure nearby.  
  
It looked very odd to him, seeming to be a strange mixture of man and  
  
machine with a whitish pallor to it's skin. It moved about the area,  
  
scanning constantly. Yet it seemed to have no interest in him, only in  
  
the ship. As it conducted it's examination it moved by him several  
  
times and never gave him a second glance, ignoring him utterly. He  
  
finally could not tolerate this any longer. "What are you doing here?"  
  
he demanded.  
  
The creature ignored him still, and continued to examine the  
  
interior of his ship.  
  
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rubeus!" He hurled a blast of  
  
energy at the intruder, creating a large hole in it's chest and it fell  
  
limply to the ground.  
  
Before he could gloat too long, another intruder appeared and  
  
picked up where it's predecessor had left off. Rubeus was about to deal  
  
with this one in a similar manner when he felt himself being forcibly  
  
teleported off his ship. He looked around and discovered that he was in  
  
a large open area. From where he was, he could see dozens, hundreds,  
  
perhaps thousands of the man-machine aliens.  
  
From nowhere and everywhere a voice resounded, "We have evaluated  
  
your ship as technologically inferior and too damaged to resist us. You  
  
will remain where you are for assimilation. If you resist, you will be  
  
destroyed."  
  
Rubeus shuddered inwardly. It sounded as if thousands of cold and  
  
mechanical voices were speaking as one. Still, he refused to be  
  
intimidated. "Assimilation?!? You creatures have a lot to learn about  
  
me. I'm more powerful than I appear."  
  
"Power is irrelevant. You will comply."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"We are the Borg. Your existence as you have known it has ended.  
  
We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.  
  
  
  
You will be assimilated.  
  
"Resistance is futile."  
  
Rubeus grinned in spite of himself. "We'll see about that!"  
  
  
  
  
  
Space -- The final frontier.  
  
These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.  
  
It's continuing mission -  
  
to explore strange new worlds...  
  
to seek out new life and new civilizations...  
  
to boldly go where no one has gone before.  
  
  
  
  
  
Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
"A Borg to Remember..."  
  
by Bill Harris (soton@aol.com)  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 1 - The Sailor Scouts Drop In  
  
Serena sat fuming at her desk. 'Sometimes life was just so totally  
  
unfair!' She hadn't even been two minutes late that morning, and Ms. H  
  
still slapped her with detention. 'Her boyfriend probably canceled out  
  
on a date.'  
  
She glanced eagerly at the clock. Not much longer, and she'd be  
  
able to go. If she hurried, she might not be too late for her date with  
  
Darien. Oh, wait a minute... She jut remembered that the Scouts were  
  
supposed to be meeting at the temple first. She grimaced at the thought  
  
of enduring another one of Raye's tirades about punctuality.  
  
Finally, after waiting for the time to pass all to slowly, Ms Haruna  
  
finally gave her permission to leave. "Thanks, Ms. H. I won't be late  
  
again, I promise! Bye!" she said as she sped out the door. Suddenly  
  
there was a flash of light accompanied by a rippling sound effect and  
  
Serena vanished without a trace.  
  
Haruna got up and looked around then checked the hallway, but  
  
Serena wasn't anywhere to be seen. 'It finally happened,' she thought.  
  
'That girl is starting to give me hallucinations.'  
  
  
  
"Huh?" Serena looked wildly around the room. This wasn't the  
  
school hallway. As a matter of fact, she had never seen this place  
  
before in her life. Most of the furnishings seemed like the type you'd  
  
see in a typical hotel suite, but some of the artifacts in here seemed  
  
so... alien.  
  
The statue on the table, for instance. It consisted of two figures  
  
wrestling, but the faces didn't seem human.  
  
And then there were the weapons hanging on the wall. At least she  
  
assumed they were weapon. The blades were razor sharp, but curved in a  
  
way she had never seen with any sword or other edged weapon she had ever  
  
seen. She'd never seen any of the Negacreeps use anything *this* weird.  
  
The same went for those Immortals.  
  
She prowled around silently for a while, then belatedly decided that  
  
she should check if anyone was present. "Hello?" She heard a whooshing  
  
sound from behind her, then felt the impact as she collided with someone.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't..." Her voice trailed off as she got a good  
  
look at the man she had bumped into. He was tall, well over six feet,  
  
with very dark skin. He was dressed in a gold and black uniform of some  
  
type that seemed oddly familiar to her, with a large heavy looking  
  
metallic sash. But that wasn't what gave her pause.  
  
It was those ridges on his forehead. Just like the statue.  
  
He scowled at her, apparently just controlling his temper. "What  
  
are you doing here?" he demanded in a loud, deep voice. "How did you  
  
get into my quarters?"  
  
"Um...I...um," she stammered, feeling panic slowly rise up in her.  
  
"Who are you?" she finally managed to ask.  
  
"I am Lieutenant Worf. Now, answer my question. What are you  
  
doing in my quarters?"  
  
"I DON'T KNOW!!" Serena exclaimed at the top of her lungs. "WHAT  
  
IS THIS PLACE?!? I WANT TO GO HOME!! WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"  
  
The Klingon officer winced visibly as she let out an ear-splitting  
  
wail. Then clamped his hands over his ears.  
  
  
  
Amy looked around the room. There was something oddly familiar  
  
about this place, even if she had no idea on how she gotten here. Still,  
  
the first step in determining that was establishing her current location.  
  
  
  
Now if only she could remember why this room was giving her such a sense  
  
of deja vu...  
  
Wait a minute. She *had* been in this room before... or at least  
  
one very much like it. This was similar to the sickbay of the  
  
Enterprise, only it seemed much more advanced. She found what looked  
  
like a computer terminal in nearby room and sat down in front of it.  
  
She pressed what she hoped was the power switch and was rewarded when  
  
the screen lit up, but the words on the screen caught her eye before she  
  
did anything.  
  
"USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D," she read. She sat silently for a  
  
moment, digesting this latest bit of information. "This must be a  
  
Starfleet vessel, only from a later time than Captain Kirk's Enterprise.  
  
But how much later? Computer, what is the current stardate?" she asked.  
  
"Stardate 45237.4," it responded.  
  
She idly noted the much smoother voice of the computer, as she did  
  
some fast calculations in her head. "Over one hundred years later," she  
  
said. That would account for the technological advances she's seen.  
  
"But how did I get here?"  
  
"I could ask you the same question," said a voice from the door.  
  
Startled, Amy looked up and saw an attractive red haired woman standing  
  
there. She was ,apparently in her late thirties or early forties and  
  
dressed in a blue/black uniform similar to what Spock and McCoy had worn,  
  
but she also had a blue smock on as well. "I'm not used to having  
  
strangers wandering around my sickbay. Who are you?"  
  
"I'm sorry if I'm intruding, " Amy said in an apologetic manner,  
  
"but I really have no idea on how I got here. One moment I was in Tokyo,  
  
the next I was here. My name is Amy Mizuno."  
  
"I'm Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer," she responded. "Let's  
  
see if we can figure how you arrived."  
  
  
  
Raye fumed silently as she tended the sacred fire. It was bad  
  
enough that Serena was late, but by now that was to be expected of her.  
  
But where were the others? It wasn't like them to not be on time, or at  
  
least let her know they would be late. Amy especially.  
  
She closed her eyes to meditate and calm herself. In an instant,  
  
the comforting heat of the fire vanished. She opened her eyes and  
  
started. She obviously wasn't at the temple. All around her were a wide  
  
variety of plants with a dirt pathway weaving amongst them. While she  
  
was no botanist, some of the plants had a distinctly alien feel to them.  
  
She got up and began to wander around, trying to find a clue to her  
  
location. She guessed immediately that she was in some sort of building.  
  
After a moment of wandering, she came upon a bank of windows.  
  
Hoping for some answers, she approached them and looked outside. Instead,  
  
  
  
she simply found more questions. Outside she saw only blackness, with  
  
thousands of stars visible. And some of them were only visible as  
  
streaks of light, as if she was moving at an impossibly fast speed. "I'm  
  
on a spaceship," she breathed.  
  
"Excuse me." Raye turned towards the voice. It was an attractive  
  
woman, about thirty, with long black hair about the same length as Lita's.  
  
But her eyes...  
  
Her eyes have no discernable irises, only deep blackness.  
  
"My name is Deanna Troi, ships counselor. I'm sensing a great deal  
  
of confusion in you. Is something wrong?"  
  
"You could say that," Raye replied.  
  
  
  
Guinan looked uneasily around Ten Forward. She sensed that  
  
something was amiss, something involving *him*. The distinctive flash  
  
she knew too well drew her attention to one of the large windows,  
  
announcing the appearance of a tall, brown haired girl. Guinan guessed  
  
that she was roughly the same age as Wesley Crusher.  
  
Of course, appearances could be deceiving where *they* where  
  
involved. She watched the girl intently for a moment. No, she was  
  
definitely human... but no ordinary human. There was something more  
  
about her.  
  
Guinan shook her head. Just what was that mischievous entity  
  
playing at this time?  
  
  
  
Lita looked around in bewilderment. The last thing she remembered,  
  
she was just getting to the temple. The next thing she knew she was  
  
here... wherever 'here' was. By the looks of it, this was some sort of  
  
lounge. Several of the people around her were giving her odd looks.  
  
Evidently, her being here was as much a mystery to them as it was to  
  
her.  
  
Now that shew thought about it, there was something oddly familiar  
  
with their clothing... Obviously uniforms of some type, but where had  
  
she seen them before?  
  
Hoping to find some clue to her current location she peered out  
  
the large window nearby and was astonished by the view. Stars,  
  
thousands of them all around. Several were streaking by her at a rapid  
  
pace.  
  
"You're not from around here, are you?"  
  
Startled, Lita whirled, ready for a fight. The woman who had come  
  
up to her silently was evidently no threat though. She relaxed a bit.  
  
"No. No, I'm not. I don't even know where 'here' is."  
  
She smiled and nodded. "I thought as much. People aren't usually  
  
in the habit of appearing out of thin air, even on this ship."  
  
Lita looked back outside. "This is some sort of spaceship, isn't  
  
it?"  
  
"A starship, but you've got the basic idea. What's your name?  
  
"Lita. Lita Kino."  
  
"Hello, Lita. My name's Guinan. I tend the bar, and generally  
  
look after things around here. Can I get you something?"  
  
Lita gave a short laugh. "How about a trip home?"  
  
  
  
Geordi looked up from the diagnostic panel. He could have sworn he  
  
had heard something. He walked into the warp core chamber and couldn't  
  
believe what his visor was showing him. Standing there was a young,  
  
blonde haired girl, about fifteen or so. She was examining some of the  
  
engineering readout panels. "Hey, don't touch that!"  
  
The girl jumped at the sound of his voice, and her hand brushed  
  
against the panel. Geordi rushed over there at the sound of the alarm,  
  
and quickly reset the system. He glared at her through his visor.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked. "And what are you doing here?"  
  
"My name's Mina Aino." She looked around engineering. "Um...could  
  
you tell me where 'here' is? And who you are?"  
  
"I'm Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge. And you're in main  
  
engineering." The puzzled look on her face only got deeper. He tried  
  
something more general. "The starship Enterprise."  
  
"Enterprise!" She looked around the area again. "But all this  
  
looks way more advanced than the last time I was here." To emphasize  
  
her point, she pointed at the panels.  
  
She was a little overzealous in making the point, and she made  
  
contact with the controls again. As before, the warning alarm chimed and  
  
this time the computer added it's two cents worth. "Warning: Antimatter  
  
containment systems failing. A warp core breach will occur in 30  
  
seconds."  
  
Geordi shoved her roughly aside and began frantically working the  
  
controls. Fortunately, they weren't too badly misaligned, and he was  
  
able to get things quickly under control.  
  
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. What had just  
  
happened was impossible, he told himself. There were supposed to be  
  
safety interlocks to prevent accidental touches on the control pads from  
  
causing system failures like these.  
  
Nevertheless, he had just witnessed it happen. Twice.  
  
"Do me a favor, OK?" he said to her. "Just don't touch anything  
  
*else* in here."  
  
Mina glared at him, silently fuming.  
  
  
  
Artemis prowled around the room for what seemed like the  
  
thousandth time. Other than the one door, there didn't seem to be  
  
anyway out. And that way was apparently locked. It didn't help his  
  
temperament any that the other occupant here, a female cat, was  
  
constantly meowing and rubbing up against him.  
  
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh, great," he muttered.  
  
"Just my luck." The other cat was in heat.  
  
Luna was going to kill him.  
  
  
  
Data entered his quarters, and was taken aback by what he saw. He  
  
had taken several precautions against Spot escaping from his quarters,  
  
with some degree of success. Yet despite his efforts another cat  
  
(apparently a male) had somehow entered his quarters. Spot was avidly  
  
attempting to mate with the other feline.  
  
Given her current condition, this was not surprising.  
  
What was surprising was that the white male was just as avidly  
  
trying to avoid Spot. If fact, it executed a rather astounding leap  
  
and perched itself on his shoulders.  
  
"You should not be in this room when Spot is in her current  
  
condition." The white feline cast a flustered eye at him, as if to say  
  
'You're telling me?'  
  
Data eyed the intruder critically. "There are currently twenty  
  
three other felines on board, eleven of them male. I do not recall one  
  
matching your description being on board the Enterprise."  
  
When he said "Enterprise", the cat's eyes bulged out, as if in  
  
astonishment. The android frowned. This was a definite indication of a  
  
level of intelligence beyond ordinary felines. Of course, it was  
  
possible this was a trained response to an audio stimuli, but he deemed  
  
that unlikely. Data opened his tricorder and examined the strange cat  
  
carefully. It seemed to be in all respects an ordinary feline, except  
  
for that strange marking on it's forehead. A crescent moon symbol, with  
  
the points facing up. And the expression on it's face almost  
  
suggested... intelligence.  
  
Could it also denote sentience?  
  
The android pondered this. He had seen that symbol before, in  
  
connotation with sentient felines. He accessed his internal memory and  
  
recalled the reference picoseconds later - the ship's logs of the USS  
  
Enterprise.  
  
Could it be that this was one of the two felines encountered? He  
  
sat down at his computer terminal. "Computer, access log entries of  
  
the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701. Stardate 5046.7. Begin playback,  
  
maximum speed."  
  
He stopped the playback after a few minutes, then accessed some of  
  
the more appropriate entries. A few manipulations of the controls  
  
brought up the picture he required. He examined it carefully, comparing  
  
it with the white cat he was holding. Less than 0.005 percent variation.  
  
"Hello, Artemis. I am Lieutenant Commander Data."  
  
  
  
'It's turning out to be one of those shifts,' thought Riker.  
  
Several reports had been coming in from various parts of the ship of  
  
people appearing out of thin air. So far all of them had been female  
  
teenagers. At least, he thought Worf had said his encounter was with a  
  
girl. He really couldn't be sure over all that noise.  
  
Nevertheless, it was time to bring the Captain up to date. Thus  
  
far the visitors didn't seem to present any threat, but that could  
  
change quickly. He was on his way over to the ready room door when he  
  
heard a sound he had grown to hate over the years. The sound of a Q  
  
teleportation.  
  
A young man in his early twenties now stood in between the con and  
  
ops stations. He didn't look particularly threatening, but Riker had  
  
learned by now to not judge by appearances. The cost for that  
  
particular lesson had very nearly been Geordi's life. "Security to  
  
the bridge, intruder alert." He took a couple of steps towards the  
  
stranger and demanded, "Who the hell are you?"  
  
Before he could answer, the turbolift snapped open and two security  
  
guards came out, phasers drawn. He put his hands up in a defensive  
  
gesture, "Whoa, take it easy. I'm don't know how I got here, but I'm  
  
not going to hurt anybody."  
  
"Glad to hear it," Riker answered. "But I hope you don't mind if  
  
we take precautions until we can verify that. Now, who are you?"  
  
"Darien," he answered. "Darien Chiba. This may sound like a  
  
stupid question, but... where am I?"  
  
  
  
Picard stared at his desk. The black cat that had just appeared  
  
there stared back at him. "Now, how the devil did you get here?"  
  
'Believe me, I wish I knew,' Luna thought. She glanced about the  
  
room. It was comfortably furnished, but had an office feel to it.  
  
Definitely an area were work was done.  
  
A chime sounded from the door. "Come," said Picard.  
  
Riker entered the room, but stopped short when he saw the cat. "A  
  
cat, sir? I don't think the fish are going to like that."  
  
Luna shot him a dirty look. 'Oh, please!'  
  
"It wasn't my choice, Number One," Picard replied. "She just  
  
appeared here out of nowhere."  
  
Riker looked uneasy. "That's becoming a common occurrence. We  
  
just had this young man appear on the bridge." He indicated Darien  
  
still standing near the ops station. Two security personnel stood  
  
nearby, keeping a wary eye on him. Luna jumped off the desk and ran  
  
over to Darien, who picked her up.  
  
"Luna! What are you doing here? How did you get here?"  
  
"I imagine the same way you did," she whispered, keeping her voice  
  
too low for the guards to hear. "Though I haven't a clue where 'here'  
  
is."  
  
Picard walked over to Darien. "She seems to know you, Mr...?"  
  
"Chiba. Darien Chiba. This is Luna."  
  
"Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Is she your cat?"  
  
"No," Darien answered. "She belongs to my girlfriend, Serena."  
  
Picard decided to put this to one side for the moment and turned  
  
to his first officer. "You implied that there have been other  
  
appearances, Number One."  
  
Riker nodded. "Yes sir. We've gotten several reports of others  
  
appearing all over the ship. Sickbay, the arboretum, Ten Forward,  
  
engineering. And... I think Worf reported one in his quarters."  
  
"Think?"  
  
Riker shrugged. "There was something making an incredibly loud  
  
noise at the other end. I'm having them taken to Ten Forward for now."  
  
"Sounds like Serena," Darien said softly.  
  
Luna sighed in acknowledgement as she looked around the bridge.  
  
There was a dedication plaque to the right of the viewscreen that caught  
  
her eye. She peered at it and examined it closely.  
  
No, it couldn't be...  
  
Picard asked, "Do we have any idea on how these people have gotten  
  
on board the ..."  
  
"ENTERPRISE!" shouted Luna.  
  
"Luna!" said a startled Darien. Picard and Riker also stared in  
  
amazement at the cat, though for altogether different reasons.  
  
"Oh, not again," Luna said in a much softer tone.  
  
  
  
Next time: The command staff tries to sort things out, as do the Sailor  
  
Scouts. Be here next time for "A Tale of Two Meetings".  
  
Bill Harris  
  
"I don't do Windows... 95 or otherwise!"  
  
Sci-Fi quote of the month:  
  
"Today we celebrate our Independence Day!" - Pres. Whitmore, "Independence Day" 


	2. Chapter 2 - A Tale of Two Meetings

Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
  
  
by Soton  
  
  
  
Chapter 2 - A Tale of Two Meetings:  
  
Riker found his voice first. "Again? I don't recall ever seeing  
  
a talking cat before."  
  
"Not this ship," replied the cat. "Another one of the same name."  
  
This rang a bell in Picard's mind, but he couldn't quite bring  
  
it to the forefront. "Who was commanding officer?" he asked.  
  
"The captain's name was James Kirk."  
  
The two officers exchanged glances. "James Kirk," said Picard.  
  
He nodded now, the memory surfacing.  
  
"I remember now," Riker remarked. "From the logs of the original  
  
Enterprise. You're Luna, aren't you?" After Luna nodded in reply,  
  
"But that was over a hundred years ago. How could they be here, now?"  
  
"A good question, Number One."  
  
Their musings were interrupted by the intercom. "Data to  
  
Captain Picard."  
  
"Picard here. Go ahead Mr. Data."  
  
"Sir, have there been any reports of people mysteriously  
  
appearing on the ship? Specifically teenage females?"  
  
Picard looked puzzled. "Yes, Mr. Data. How did you know about  
  
this?"  
  
"I have had a discussion with one of our... guests. I believe  
  
they are of no threat to the ship."  
  
"Prepare to brief the senior staff. Picard out." He turned to  
  
his first officer. "Number one, assemble the senior staff in ten  
  
minutes."  
  
"Yes sir." Riker gave Luna another look, then moved to comply.  
  
Picard gestured to the guards. "Escort Mr. Chiba and Luna to  
  
Ten Forward."  
  
  
  
"Darien!" Luna barely had time to escape from Darien's arms  
  
before the blonde tornado struck. "OneminuteIwasatschoolthenextIwas  
  
hereandlookingatthiguywithareallyuglyforeheadand--"  
  
"Whoa, Serena, slow down." He tried to calm her down before she  
  
could draw her next breath. "You don't have to give me the whole  
  
thing in one blast."  
  
"Yeah, you might want to at least give him a chance to breathe,"  
  
Raye remarked.  
  
Amy interrupted before another Serena could retort. "I've been  
  
accessing the ship's computer, as well as talking with Doctor  
  
Crusher. I believe I know where we are."  
  
"Yes, Darien and I got some indication from the captain, also,"  
  
Luna said. She paused and sniffed at Artemis, then scowled at the  
  
white cat. "Is that another cat I smell? A FEMALE cat?!?"  
  
"Um..." Artemis stammered.  
  
"Artemis, you rogue!" Mina scolded him.  
  
"Yeah, shame on you," Serena joined in. "Two timing on Luna  
  
like that!"  
  
Artemis began sputtering denials, but Luna never gave him the  
  
chance to finish. "SERENA!"  
  
"Ah Luna, you know it's just a matter of time."  
  
  
  
The Klingon security chief was in a foul mood. Worse than usual,  
  
that is.  
  
On the other hand, Riker seemed to be enjoying himself. "You're  
  
kidding." His smile, indicating he found the situation somewhat  
  
amusing, only served to make Worf's mood all the more sour. "She  
  
really said you had an ugly forehead?"  
  
"From what I could understand." Worf paused, gritting his teeth.  
  
"Her *wailing* was so loud, I'm surprised the entire ship didn't hear  
  
her."  
  
Geordi chuckled. "Don't feel bad, Worf. At least Serena didn't  
  
almost blow up the ship." He held up a hand at looks of alarm around  
  
the table. "Don't worry, I was able to get things under control quick  
  
enough... or we wouldn't be here talking about it. But somehow Mina  
  
caused the antimatter containment field to begin to deteriorate...  
  
and all she did was accidentally hit a couple of controls!"  
  
Riker looked skeptical, as did the others. "Geordi, that's  
  
impossible."  
  
"I know, Commander. And if I hadn't seen it happen, I'd have  
  
just as many doubts as you do. But that's what happened. All I can  
  
say is that we shouldn't let Mina near any vital systems. If she could  
  
do this to the warp engines, I'd hate to see what would happen if she  
  
got near the controls to, say, life support. And I doubt any of them  
  
have had any experience with extraterrestrials either."  
  
"That is not entirely correct, Geordi."  
  
"How so, Data?"  
  
"I have had an extensive conversation with Artemis--"  
  
"Artemis?" inquired Dr. Crusher. "The white cat?"  
  
"Once you've seen one talking cat, Doctor, it's not much of a  
  
stretch to accept that another one can," said Picard. "Continue,  
  
Mr. Data."  
  
"Yes, sir. The young women in question are a group known in  
  
their reality as the Sailor Scouts. They possess extraordinary powers,  
  
and are engaged in defending their Earth from extradimensional threat  
  
from what they call the Negaverse."  
  
"I remember," said Riker. "If I recall, they were battling  
  
someone named Queen... Boral, was it?"  
  
"Queen Beryl, sir," Data corrected. "According to Artemis,  
  
that situation has been resolved."  
  
  
  
"You mean they're from the same Federation as Kirk, Spock and  
  
McCoy?" Serena asked.  
  
Amy nodded. "Yes. That's correct."  
  
"I'll have to take your word for it," Darien said. "My memory  
  
of that time is a little vague."  
  
"Well, you were a little bit brainwashed," Lita teased him.  
  
Mina frowned. "But it's only been little more than a year for  
  
us. How can it be more than a hundred years for them?"  
  
"More importantly," added Raye, "how did we get here?"  
  
  
  
"I am unable to account for the temporal discontinuity,  
  
Commander."  
  
"Assuming they are the same ones encountered by Kirk's  
  
Enterprise, then the operative question is: how did they get here?"  
  
asked Geordi. "We're nowhere near the quantum flux they encountered."  
  
  
  
"I don't know," said Amy.  
  
"But Amy, you're supposed to know everything!" Serena whined.  
  
"Ease off, Serena," said Raye. "Not even a genius can know  
  
everything!"  
  
"Yeah, alright. Sorry Amy."  
  
"Don't worry about it. Somehow I think the people here are  
  
as mystified about it as we are."  
  
"I'm not sure if this means anything," said Lita, "but I was  
  
talking with Guinan before you guys got here, and she seemed to  
  
think someone named 'Q' was responsible."  
  
"Q?" asked Darien. "What's a Q?"  
  
"A letter of the alphabet?"  
  
  
  
"Q." Worf spat the name out as if the mere mention of it were  
  
poisonous. It certainly did nothing to improve his mood.  
  
"I had a feeling he was involved. I was hoping I was wrong,"  
  
said Riker. He looked almost as disgusted by the possible involvement  
  
of that mischievous entity as Worf. "Life in the continuum must be  
  
boring for him again."  
  
Troi shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense. When Q  
  
creates situation, he usually wastes no time in taking credit for it."  
  
"That's true, Counselor," answered Picard. "However, Guinan  
  
was quite sure she sensed his presence just before Lita appeared in  
  
Ten Forward."  
  
"Which leads us back to the same question," said Crusher. "Why  
  
are they here? Q doesn't do anything without some sort of reason."  
  
Riker turned to the security chief. "Mr. Worf, have the  
  
sensors detected anything unusual?"  
  
  
  
Amy looked up from her computer. "I've interfaced my computer  
  
with the ship's computer system. It's conducting a sensor sweep of  
  
the area now."  
  
"That didn't take long to set up," said Mina.  
  
"The technology may be more advanced, but the protocols are  
  
essentially the same as when Mr. Spock helped me interface with the  
  
computer on the other Enterprise." The computer beeped at her and  
  
she paused to examine the results. "There are indications of  
  
Negaverse energy in the background dechyon field."  
  
"In plain English, Amy?" Serena asked.  
  
"I think she mean that there are indications that something  
  
from the Negaverse entered this universe," Darien answered. Amy  
  
nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Maybe this Q person brought us here to help the Enterprise  
  
face it," suggested Mina.  
  
"I doubt it," said Guinan. She and another hostess began setting  
  
down drinks and other items in front of each of them. "Past experience  
  
has taught me that he doesn't exactly have a helpful nature."  
  
Serena's eyes widened as Guinan set a large chocolate sundae in  
  
front of her and she immediately dug in. As always ever practical, Amy  
  
spoke up, "I'm not sure how we're going to pay for all this."  
  
Guinan smiled slightly. If she had any doubt about them not  
  
being natives of the twenty fourth century, this erased them. "Don't  
  
worry about it. We don't use money."  
  
Darien looked perplexed. "Huh? Not for anything?"  
  
"Some races, such as the Ferengi, still do. But as a whole,  
  
the Federation doesn't."  
  
Serena was ecstatic. "Free food? I love this place!" She dug  
  
into the sundae with renewed vigor.  
  
Raye stiffened. "I sense something." She got up and walked  
  
over to the window. She closed her eyes in deep concentration.  
  
All thought of free cuisine were suddenly lost for Serena.  
  
"Raye?" she asked in a concerned voice. "You OK? What's wrong?"  
  
"I'm sensing some great evil nearby." She paused for a moment,  
  
trying to get a further sense of the threat. Eventually, she opened  
  
her eyes and shook her head. "I can't say what it is for sure, but  
  
something about it seems familiar."  
  
Serena tried to show more confidence than she felt. "Don't  
  
worry, Raye. We've handled everything the Negaverse has thrown our  
  
way so far. We'll handle this too."  
  
"I hope you're right."  
  
  
  
Ro's voice came over the comm system, interrupting the meeting.  
  
"Bridge to Captain Picard."  
  
"Picard here."  
  
"Sir, sensors have detected a vessel moving towards us at high  
  
warp, apparently on an intercept course."  
  
At a nod from Picard, the senior officers got up and headed for  
  
the door to the bridge. "We're on our way, Ensign."  
  
  
  
"Mr. Worf, see if can you identify the vessel."  
  
"Aye, sir," the Klingon officer replied as he resumed his  
  
station at tactical. He focused the sensors at the approaching ship,  
  
comparing it's configuration to known ship types. "No match found in  
  
Federation records. But it is definitely on an intercept course,  
  
moving at warp nine point three."  
  
Riker frowned. "Whoever they are, they're in one hell of a  
  
hurry to get here."  
  
Data's hands moved quickly over the ops station controls.  
  
"Captain, based on an analysis of the vessel's power curve, I believe  
  
that there is a high degree of probability that it is a Borg ship."  
  
The captain and first officer exchanged an uncertain look.  
  
"Data, how can that be? Borg ships have a very distinctive shape.  
  
Worf's scan should have ID it right away."  
  
"I am aware of that, Commander. Nevertheless, that is what my  
  
analysis indicates."  
  
"This may be a new type of Borg ship, Number One."  
  
Riker looked somewhat apprehensive at this prospect. "I hope  
  
not. Their other type is hard enough to deal with." Picard didn't  
  
reply, but nodded in grim agreement.  
  
"Now entering visual range," Worf announced.  
  
"On screen," ordered the captain. The viewer flickered and the  
  
distant form of another ship appeared. "Magnify." Again the screen  
  
flickered and the image of the approaching ship filled the screen.  
  
Riker vocalized the puzzlement they all felt. "What the hell?"  
  
All along the ship there were projections of some crystalline  
  
substance. But the core of the ship, in the form of a cube, was very  
  
distinctive. All present recognized it immediately.  
  
"The Borg." Picard stared at the screen, a sense of dread  
  
filling him. It had been over a year since they had faced one of these  
  
ships, but he still had the occasional nightmare about it. Sensing his  
  
apprehension, Troi glanced over at him, concern evident on her face.  
  
"Highly modified, but it's definitely a Borg ship," he continued, his  
  
voice barely above a whisper. He shook himself, trying to shed his  
  
doubts and fears over the coming confrontation. No matter what his  
  
personal feelings, he was the captain and his crew was counting on him  
  
to see them safely through this situation. When next he spoke, his  
  
voice had a more assertive tone to it. "Number One, take us to battle  
  
stations."  
  
"Red alert!" Riker cried out. "All hands to battle stations!"  
  
  
  
The Scouts started as the alert klaxons started blaring in Ten  
  
Forward. Around them, the crewmembers present got up and headed for  
  
the exit, racing for their respective duty stations. "I remember that  
  
sound," Mina said. "They've sounded a red alert."  
  
"I wonder why?" Lita wondered.  
  
Amy tapped the tiny keyboard of her computer. "I've accessed the  
  
main viewscreen," she said. "We should be able to see what's on it."  
  
They all crowded around her, including Guinan. She showed no outward  
  
reaction to the display, but stared intently at the image. Inwardly  
  
she felt a surge of fear... and hate.  
  
Raye felt Guinan's reaction more than she noticed it. "What's  
  
wrong?" she asked.  
  
"It's a Borg vessel. But it's been modified in some way. It's  
  
not like any Borg ship I've ever seen." She fell silent, preferring  
  
not to share her previous experience with the Borg with them. They  
  
didn't need to know how the Borg had invaded and destroyed her  
  
homeworld.  
  
"You know," said Artemis, "those projections seem familiar."  
  
Luna nodded. "You're right. They almost look like part of  
  
Rubeus' spaceship."  
  
"Impossible," Lita said sharply, "that blew up!"  
  
  
  
"Captain, we are being hailed," said Worf.  
  
"On screen." Picard stared patiently at the screen as Worf  
  
transferred the signal there.  
  
  
  
The Scout's collective jaws dropped when they saw the image.  
  
"Rubeus!"  
  
  
  
Picard frowned at the image on the viewscreen. He had been  
  
expecting the typical wide angle view of the interior of a Borg ship or  
  
perhaps another individual that the collective had assimilated to use  
  
as their spokesman.  
  
But such was not the case. The individual displayed seemed a  
  
fairly typical red haired humanoid male, but with a couple of minor  
  
exceptions. The first was that he had a Borg cybernetic device  
  
implanted on the left side of his head. This wasn't unusual, since he  
  
was on a Borg ship. What made it unusual was that it was the only  
  
implant visible and his skin wasn't the pasty white color so typical  
  
of the Borg.  
  
But this wasn't what sent a cold shiver down Picard's spine.  
  
That was caused by the second distinguishing mark he had: a crescent  
  
moon symbol imprinted on his forehead. It was similar to those that  
  
Luna and Artemis had; but whereas their's was gold colored with the  
  
points upwards, his was black as night and was pointing down.  
  
Combined with the look of individuality in his eyes, it gave  
  
Picard a very bad feeling indeed.  
  
He cleared his throat. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of -"  
  
"-the Federation starship Enterprise. Yes, I'm aware of that,"  
  
he said. His smile only increased Picard's sense of apprehension.  
  
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rubeus... of Borg."  
  
  
  
Next time: Well, Rubeus has taken over a Borg ship... which is no  
  
simple feat, for they are the deadliest, most powerful enemy the  
  
Federation has ever faced. So it's doubtful that he means well for  
  
the Enterprise crew, and it may well be up to the Scouts to save  
  
another starship Enterprise from disaster in -- "Enter... the Borg". 


	3. Chapter 3 - Enter... the Borg

Soton@aol.com  
  
  
  
Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
  
  
Chapter 3 - Enter... the Borg  
  
s  
  
Those in Ten Forward watched the initial wordplay between Picard  
  
and Rubeus in silence. Finally Guinan shook her head, "Something's very  
  
wrong here."  
  
"I'll say there's something wrong!" exclaimed Raye. "This creep  
  
should be dead!"  
  
"Maybe, but that's not what I'm talking about. He's not behaving  
  
like a typical Borg. Almost as if he's an individual."  
  
"That's unusual?" Mina inquired.  
  
"There *are* no Borg individuals. Only the collective," Guinan  
  
insisted. "They're mindless drones, whose only purpose is absorbing  
  
other races and cultures." She paused, "At least that used to be true.  
  
I didn't think any being short of a Q could handle the Borg alone, but  
  
if he's capable of taking over a Borg ship..." Her voice trailed off.  
  
"In that case you should all transform and get to the bridge!" Luna  
  
said urgently. "They're going to need your help against Rubeus!"  
  
"Right, Luna!" Serena said emphatically. "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"  
  
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"  
  
"MARS STAR POWER!"  
  
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"  
  
"VENUS STAR POWER!"  
  
Guinan watched with a sense of awe as the girls and Darien all went  
  
through their transformations. With a cry of "Let's go!" from Sailor  
  
Moon, they and the cats raced out of Ten Forward.  
  
Guinan smiled ironically as the doors closed behind them. It was  
  
good to know that the universe could still the occasional curve her way,  
  
even after more than five hundred years. "Good luck." She looked out  
  
the large windows mounted in the starship's leading edge, where the  
  
altered form of the Borg ship was now plainly visible and her expression  
  
sobered. "You're going to need it."  
  
  
  
Rubeus was evidently amused by Picard's pronouncement. "I really  
  
don't care if my ship is violating your precious territory, Captain. The  
  
Borg have never bothered to respect political boundaries, and I have no  
  
use for them either."  
  
"I? My?" Troi whispered to herself. Leaning over to Picard,  
  
"Captain, he's not only behaving as an individual, he feels like one too.  
  
Much more than yo-- Locutus did."  
  
Picard nodded, ignoring the counselor's slight misstep. This was  
  
in accord with what he had noticed from Rubeus, based on his firsthand  
  
knowledge of the Borg. "What is your purpose in Federation space?"  
  
"Simple question, meriting a simple answer. I have taken over this  
  
ship, and I intend to use it to build up a large force capable of  
  
destroying my enemies. Then I will return to my homeworld and exact my  
  
revenge on those who have wronged me. Using my new... 'friends', you  
  
and your crew will be the first to be assimilated into my army." He  
  
paused, then smiled evilly. "Time to join *my* collective... Locutus."  
  
"Like hell it is," rasped Picard. At that moment, the deck lurched  
  
beneath their feet.  
  
"The Borg have locked onto us with their tractor beam," reported  
  
Worf. "Shields are being drained. Ninety percent... now eighty..."  
  
"Modulating shield nutation," Geordi said from the engineering  
  
station.  
  
"Close channel, Mr. Worf, and return fire with all weapons,"  
  
Picard ordered.  
  
The Klingon didn't reply, but moved rapidly to comply. Rubeus'  
  
image disappeared from the screen, replaced with a view of his ship.  
  
Several phaser beams and photon torpedoes could be seen impacting on it.  
  
"No damage. Shields now at sixty percent... fifty..."  
  
"Fire at will."  
  
LaForge shook his head, "Shield modulation isn't having any effect.  
  
They'll only last a few more seconds."  
  
"Data, get that beam off of us!" Riker ordered. The android's  
  
hands moved rapidly over his controls, quickly altering the phaser  
  
frequency with each burst fired at the tractor beam emitter. They could  
  
see the color of the beam alter, shifting around from yellow to red,  
  
blue, green, among others. Seconds later, a bright flash announced his  
  
success.  
  
"Borg tractor beam terminated."  
  
Unfortunately, his success came a few seconds too late. "Shields  
  
have failed," Worf announced just as several Borg materialized on the  
  
bridge. The security chief reacted first, readying his phaser and firing  
  
at a Borg in one smooth motion. It collapsed immediately amid a shower  
  
of sparks, it's implants still twitching. The others fired almost  
  
immediately afterwards, and the first wave of the Borg were quickly  
  
dispatched. But as soon as the last fell, the second wave arrived.  
  
Worf and Data fired simultaneously. The beams hit, but did little more  
  
than spark a bit. Worf readjusted his phaser and fired twice more with  
  
similar results, before saying the obvious: "They've adapted to the  
  
random phasers!"  
  
Speculation on how that feat had been accomplished had to wait as  
  
the Borg drones moved on each crewmember and the scene quickly  
  
degenerated into hand to hand combat. Using his rather impressive  
  
strength, Data was able to dispatch two rather quickly. He was moving  
  
to assist his crewmates when he found himself surrounded by a rather  
  
powerful forcefield.  
  
At the tactical station, Worf drew a traditional Klingon melee  
  
weapon, a mekh'leth, from beneath his sash and took a powerful swipe at  
  
the nearest of the drones. It collapsed and he moved on to attack  
  
another. It grasped his arm and he found himself locked in a struggle  
  
with it. Each of the others found themselves in similar struggles.  
  
What the Borg lacked in agility they more than made for in strength and  
  
persistence.  
  
Data was attempting to disrupt the forcefield with his phaser when  
  
he saw two talon-like devices emerge from the back of a Borg's hand and  
  
inject themselves into Ensign Harris, who had been stationed at Science  
  
One. She gasped, then collapsed and the Borg moved on to find another  
  
target. He could see other Borg attempt similar moves on the others,  
  
but they managed to avoid them for the moment.  
  
"Hold it right there!" All eyes moved to the now open doors of the  
  
turbolift in the front of the bridge. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask stood  
  
there, with the other Scouts flanking them.  
  
  
  
Rubeus had been watching the battle through the eyes of the drones.  
  
His eyes snapped open and his expression shifted from gloating to  
  
bewilderment. "It can't be!"  
  
  
  
"I am the champion of love and justice Sailor Moon! I may not know  
  
how we got here, but I've gotten to like this place. Even if that one  
  
guy back there has a really ugly forehead!" Despite his struggle Worf  
  
glared momentarily at her, while Luna groaned softly. "Anyway, if you  
  
half-mechanical creeps work for Rubeus, you must be the bad guys! In  
  
the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"  
  
  
  
Rubeus groaned. "It's her, alright. I'd recognize those  
  
insufferable speeches anywhere!" He paused, pondering this development.  
  
Maybe it wasn't all bad. In fact... Yes, Sailor Moon's appearance here  
  
could be a fortuitous event after all. He might not need to spend time  
  
developing a base of power.  
  
He sent a mental signal to the drones on the Enterprise. "There's  
  
been a slight change of plans, my friends."  
  
  
  
The Borg grappling with Ro and Troi released them and began moving  
  
on the Scouts. For their part, they where rushing to assist the  
  
Enterprise crew.  
  
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" The golden energy band wrapped itself  
  
around the Borg grappling with Geordi, which immediately let go of him  
  
and tried to break free. She gave the chain a good yank, throwing the  
  
Borg into the one on Worf. It staggered, also releasing it's hold on  
  
the Klingon.  
  
Worf snarled and was about to slash them with his weapon, but  
  
Jupiter was faster. "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" The electrical blast  
  
slammed into both Borg, and they stopped moving after emitting a shower  
  
of sparks. Worf nodded approvingly.  
  
"Nice shot."  
  
Mars moved forward to meet the two approaching Borg. She easily  
  
evaded their initial attacks, then lashed out with her own power,  
  
"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" The bands of fire encircled the Borg,  
  
the bright light of the attack hiding them from sight. When it faded,  
  
there was little left of the Borg except ashes and melted cybernetic  
  
parts.  
  
"MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST!" A wave of cold energy froze the Borg  
  
in its tracks. Beverly gave it a good solid kick she recently learned  
  
from Worf's self defense course, and it fell over, shattering upon  
  
impact. She said a quick "Thank you" to the blue haired Scout before  
  
rushing over to the injured ensign.  
  
Sailor Moon took aim at the one holding Picard, leveling her  
  
scepter at it. "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" The energy beam lanced out,  
  
and exploded the chest of the Borg that had been throttling the captain.  
  
Tuxedo Mask followed with a volley of roses that hit the few remaining  
  
Borg. "Well, that was easy!"  
  
"That's what I wanted you to think, Sailor Moon!" came an all to  
  
familiar voice from behind her. "My real target is you!" He gestured,  
  
sending one of his trademark dark globes into the center of the bridge,  
  
stunning all present with the exception of Data.  
  
And Rubeus, of course.  
  
Darien looked up shakily and saw Rubeus lifting Sailor Moon's still  
  
form off the deck. With a wordless cry, he leapt at him, trying  
  
desperately to drive him away from her. Unfortunately, his efforts were  
  
in vain, for Rubeus vanished from the bridge, taking Sailor Moon with him.  
  
Around the bridge, the Borg corpses disintegrated, leaving behind only  
  
slight char markings on the carpet.  
  
"SERENA!!"  
  
Worf was one of the first of the crew to recover. He glanced up at  
  
the screen and saw that the Borg ship was receding in the distance. The  
  
force field around Data faded at that moment. "The Borg ship is  
  
disengaging, moving off." Worf quickly checked the tactical board.  
  
"Speed: warp nine point three... Accelerating to warp nine point six."  
  
"They've got Sailor Moon!" cried Tuxedo Mask. The anguish in his  
  
voice was clearly evident to all of them. "We have to go after them!"  
  
Data sat back down at his station and rapidly entered in a series  
  
of commands. "Laying in pursuit course, and engaging." The ship  
  
accelerated past the speed of light and sped off in pursuit of the Borg  
  
ship.  
  
Picard staggered up to his feet. "Get us to within transporter  
  
range, Mr. Data," he said as he painfully sat down in his command chair.  
  
"Then match velocities." Without a word, Data entered the commands into  
  
his console. "Any casualties, Doctor?"  
  
"Just Ensign Harris here," she replied while scanning her with a  
  
tricorder. "Crusher to transporter room three. Medical emergency. Two  
  
to beam directly to sickbay."  
  
"Energizing," O'Brien's voice answered and they disappeared in a  
  
blue haze.  
  
Riker swung his gaze around the bridge, checking the crew. With  
  
the exception of the luckless ensign, there were no casualties and the  
  
ship appeared to be in relatively good condition. "All in all, I think  
  
we got off lucky, Captain."  
  
"Fortunately for us, they were here to help," Picard replied,  
  
indicating the Scouts. "Thank you." They nodded wordlessly in  
  
acknowledgement, each of them too worried about Sailor Moon to say  
  
anything. All of them simply watched the image of the Borg ship on the  
  
screen, with the exception of Mercury. She was furiously working on her  
  
computer.  
  
"I don't get it," said Riker. "They had us on the ropes then, all  
  
of the sudden, they just grab Sailor Moon and run."  
  
"She has the Silver Crystal," Venus answered him, as if that would  
  
explain everything.  
  
Evidently it didn't. "Silver Crystal?"  
  
"The Silver Crystal is an artifact from the Moon Kingdom of immense  
  
power, Commander," Data replied. "In their previous encounter with  
  
Captain Kirk, Sailor Moon used it to destroy a alien spacecraft that was  
  
about to destroy the Enterprise. It had proven relatively immune to  
  
phaser and photon torpedoes to that point. The Enterprise logs indicate  
  
that the forces of Queen Beryl went to great lengths to obtain the  
  
Crystal from Sailor Moon. It would seem that Rubeus also places a high  
  
value on it's acquisition."  
  
"He does," Mars said.  
  
Darien was about to explode with worry. "We have to get her off  
  
that ship!"  
  
"I agree," said Picard. "Mr. Data, can you get a sensor lock her  
  
location?"  
  
The android consulted the sensor readouts, then shook his head,  
  
frowning, "The Borg are generating substantial sensor interference. I  
  
cannot get a fix on her position."  
  
"Can you locate her, Sailor Mercury?" asked Venus.  
  
She heaved a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "No. I've been  
  
trying to, but somehow they're scrambling my scans as well."  
  
"When you were on board the original Enterprise, you were able to  
  
increase your scanner range and power by interfacing with the main  
  
computer," Data suggested. "Perhaps if we tried that--"  
  
"I'm afraid not. My own scans were proving too limited, so that's  
  
what I was doing." She blushed slightly in mild embarrassment at the  
  
looks she got from Picard and Riker. "I'm sorry. I should have asked,  
  
but there didn't seem to be any time."  
  
"No harm done," said the captain. "But in the future, at least  
  
tell us what you're doing." She nodded in assent.  
  
"I can find her myself once we're there," said Tuxedo Mask.  
  
"If that's true, we could send over an away team," Riker suggested.  
  
"Negative, Commander," said Data. "The Borg EM field is still  
  
adapted to prevent transporter function."  
  
"We could try the Sailor Teleport," Luna suggested.  
  
This got her several puzzled looks from the Enterprise crew. "The  
  
what?" said Riker.  
  
"No," Mercury answered her. "I'm not sure how, but they're also  
  
generating an energy pattern that will prevent us from teleporting on  
  
board."  
  
"So there's nothing we can do," Darien said bitterly. Frustrated,  
  
he slammed his fist against the bridge wall.  
  
Picard frowned as he considered the situation. Though he didn't  
  
show it, inwardly he was just as frustrated by the situation as Tuxedo  
  
Mask. Rubeus and his Borg had effectively cut off all means of them  
  
boarding the ship and attempting a rescue. The only other option;  
  
namely, using a shuttle to penetrate their EM field as was done at Wolf  
  
359; was out of the question while they were traveling at these speeds.  
  
It seemed that they would have to wait until the Borg ship arrived at  
  
it's intended destination before they could attempt anything. Speaking  
  
of which... "Mr. Worf, what is the course of the Borg ship?"  
  
The security chief consulted the tactical readout. "Zero two five,  
  
mark six."  
  
Riker frowned, puzzled. He may not have Data's computing power, but  
  
if he remembered his astrogation correctly, that wasn't a course for  
  
Earth... or for that matter, any other of the major Federation homeworlds.  
  
"Ensign Ro, what systems lie along that course?"  
  
The Bajoran ensign consulted the star maps of the area and  
  
extrapolated the course of the Borg ship through it. "No star systems  
  
lie along the course of the Borg vessel, Commander."  
  
"Then where the hell are they going?"  
  
"I don't know," she answered. "However, it will take us through  
  
the Romulan Neutral Zone in about two and a half hours."  
  
"Two hours, twenty five minutes, three seconds," Data said,  
  
supplementing her report.  
  
"Great." The first officer's expression clearly indicated that he  
  
thought otherwise.  
  
"Maintain pursuit," Picard ordered. "In the meantime, Mr. LaForge,  
  
see if you can find a way around the Borg EM field. Work with Chief  
  
O'Brien. Data, I want you to analyze the Borg course. See if you can  
  
find out where they're going."  
  
"Yes, sir," the two officers answered.  
  
Picard stood up and addressed the Scouts. "While we wait, you can  
  
tell me everything you know about this Rubeus. Number One, you have the  
  
bridge." With that, he and the Scouts entered his ready room. Luna and  
  
Artemis exchanged a look, and she followed the Scouts in while the white  
  
cat hopped onto the bridge railing. Darien also remained on the bridge,  
  
his gaze fixed on the screen.  
  
"We'll get you back, Serena. I swear it."  
  
  
  
Sailor Moon woke with a start. Her hands and feet were shackled to  
  
a table of some sort. Looking around wildly, she asked the obvious  
  
question: "Where am I?"  
  
Rubeus came from around a corner. "Greetings, Sailor Moon.  
  
Welcome to my ship."  
  
"Rubeus!" Memories of recent events came flooding back to her.  
  
Appearing on the Enterprise, meeting the others in Ten Forward, the  
  
battle on the bridge, a dim memory of Rubeus grabbing her, and finally  
  
the sickening lurch of teleporting. "What am I doing here?"  
  
"I should think the answer to that should be obvious. You know  
  
that I've been after the Silver Crystal. And now I have it, and you,  
  
in my possession."  
  
"It won't do you any good. We defeated the Wiseman. Crystal Tokyo  
  
is safe."  
  
Rubeus regarded her dubiously. Could this girl have defeated the  
  
Wiseman *and* the forces of the Black Moon? Well, even if it was true,  
  
it didn't matter. He would still have his revenge on those that  
  
remained. "That remains to be seen."  
  
She tried a different approach. "Hey, how come you're still alive?  
  
Your ship blew up!"  
  
"Almost, but not quite. What you thought what my ship exploding,  
  
was really an energy discharge from the time warp machinery engaging in  
  
an uncontrolled manner. It should have destroyed the ship, but somehow  
  
I was transported to this universe. My ship was heavily damaged however."  
  
He made a sweeping gesture to the ship and the Borg around him. "This  
  
ship found me, and approached with the intent of assimilating it... of  
  
making me serve them." He bent over her, looking her in the eye. "Now  
  
they serve me. As will your crystal."  
  
"I'll never let you have the crystal."  
  
"As my Borg servants are known to say: resistance is futile, Sailor  
  
Moon. I will control the Silver Crystal. And you."  
  
  
  
Picard motioned to the two chairs and the small sofa in the ready  
  
room. "Please, have a seat." Silently, the Scouts did as he requested,  
  
Mercury and Mars taking the chairs. Luna, on the other hand, jumped up  
  
onto the desk. The captain walked over to the replicator. "Would you  
  
like anything?"  
  
"No, thank you," Mercury replied, the others indicating likewise.  
  
Picard nodded. "Tea, Earl Grey, hot." There was a slight hum as  
  
the requested beverage came into being. Picard took the cup as soon as  
  
it finished materializing and sat down at his desk, though he did a  
  
double take on seeing Luna once more perched there.  
  
Mars was glaring at him, obviously impatient. "I thought you  
  
wanted to talk about Rubeus, not have a tea social."  
  
"Please be patient, Raye," Luna said. "I'm sure the captain  
  
realizes the seriousness of the situation."  
  
"You're quite right," he responded evenly. "I realize that you're  
  
anxious to help rescue your friend. And let me assure you that I and my  
  
crew will do everything in our power to do that. But first, I need to  
  
know what I'm dealing with. I know the Borg, having had some..." He  
  
paused momentarily, memories of the last encounter with the Borg running  
  
through his mind. "...dealings with them in the past. However, I have  
  
absolutely no idea what to expect from this Rubeus... other than the  
  
fact that if he can take over a Borg ship he must be very powerful  
  
indeed."  
  
"So you want us to fill in the gaps, and together we'll figure out  
  
a way to kick his butt, right?" Jupiter asked.  
  
Picard smiled. "I wouldn't quite phrase it so colorfully, but  
  
yes... that is essentially the idea."  
  
  
  
Data turned to Commander Riker. "Commander, I believe I have  
  
determined the destination of the Borg ship." He touched a few controls  
  
on the ops panel, and the image of the Borg ship was replaced by a star  
  
chart. The course of the Borg ship was overlaid on it, with Data's  
  
estimate of their destination highlighted, a point in space not too far  
  
from the Romulan Neutral Zone.  
  
"Data, are you sure?" After a look from the android, the first  
  
officer added, "Never mind."  
  
Artemis peered at the screen from his vantage point atop the  
  
tactical station. "What's so special about that area?"  
  
"It is the location of the quantum flux connecting our respective  
  
universes," the android responded.  
  
"You mean the way the first Enterprise got to our world?" The cat  
  
though this over for a moment. "Uh oh."  
  
"Uh oh is right," Riker replied. "Captain Picard, to the bridge."  
  
A few seconds later, the door opened and Picard emerged from his  
  
ready room, followed by the Scouts and Luna. Seeing Artemis perched  
  
atop tactical just behind the command chair brought him up short. Worf  
  
obviously didn't find anything amusing about it, though. Every few  
  
seconds he glared at the white feline. "Report."  
  
"Data's figured out where they're going." He gestured towards the  
  
plot on the screen.  
  
"The quantum flux," Picard said softly. The implications hit him  
  
right away. "Of course..."  
  
"Oh, no..." The same thought occurred to Sailor Mercury.  
  
"What? What is it?" asked Jupiter.  
  
"The Borg have the ability to assimilate entire worlds. Now, I  
  
doubt that even the Borg could assimilate Crystal Tokyo, but if they  
  
have the power of the Silver Crystal behind them..." The captain's  
  
voice trailed off.  
  
It was beginning to dawn on Sailor Venus. "You don't mean...?"  
  
"Yes. Rubeus is going to use the Borg to assimilate your Earth.  
  
Either before the creation of Crystal Tokyo or by traveling back to his  
  
own time." Picard stared at the screen. "Somehow we've got to find a  
  
way to prevent that from happening."  
  
"How do we stop them?" asked Artemis. "As it stands tight now, we  
  
can't even get on their ship."  
  
"But there might be a way to prevent them from entering your  
  
universe." Picard looked to his operations officer. "Data, is there a  
  
way to seal a quantum flux?"  
  
Data looked thoughtful for a moment. "Theoretically. If we  
  
detonate a photon torpedo inside the flux, it should collapse it. But  
  
it would require modifying the torpedo to emit a warp field of the  
  
proper frequency to enter the flux, and to generate the proper temporal  
  
variance field to collapse it."  
  
"How long would that take?"  
  
"Approximately one hour."  
  
Riker looked doubtful. "That's cutting it a bit close, Data.  
  
We're just about an hour away from the flux."  
  
"I am aware of that, sir."  
  
"Make it so. With dispatch, Mr. Data." Data rose from his  
  
station and headed for the turbolift.  
  
"Captain, even we can seal the flux, how will we get to it before  
  
the Borg do?" Riker asked. "We know from past experience that we can't  
  
outrun one of their ships."  
  
Picard shrugged. "We'll just have to be creative. Make an  
  
opportunity to deploy the torpedo."  
  
"You don't sound too hopeful," Mars observed.  
  
"We're all too familiar with the Borg," Troi told her. "They can  
  
be... formidable adversaries."  
  
"Yeah, he told us about them," Jupiter said. "They sound nasty."  
  
Venus smiled ironically. "Well, at least the situation can't get  
  
any worse."  
  
"Captain," said Ro, "we've just entered the Romulan Neutral Zone."  
  
"You were saying?" quipped Artemis. "OW!" Venus glared at him  
  
while he rubbed his now sore nose.  
  
"What's the 'Romulan Neutral Zone' anyway?" asked Jupiter.  
  
Mercury answered her, "It's a buffer zone set up between the  
  
Federation and the Romulan Empire. Incursions into this area can be  
  
considered an act of war by the intruding party." After an inquiring  
  
look from Riker, she held up her computer. "I just accessed the  
  
appropriate files in your computer."  
  
"Mr. Worf, are there any signs of Romulan vessels?"  
  
Worf check the sensors. "I'm picking up several subspace  
  
anomalies, which could be cloaked Romulan vessels," he reported. "They  
  
are on an parallel course with the Borg ship, but are not approaching."  
  
"Just keeping an eye on things," Jupiter observed.  
  
Worf nodded, as that was his assessment as well. His attention  
  
was drawn to another alert sounding on his board. "Captain, we're  
  
receiving an incoming message from Starfleet Command. Priority One."  
  
Riker and Picard looked at each other. "Now what?" Riker asked.  
  
Picard shrugged. There was only one way to find out. "What's the  
  
message, Mr. Worf?"  
  
"It is a sector wide red alert," he answered. "Long range sensors  
  
from Deep Space Seven have detected *two* Borg ships entering Federation  
  
space, on course for this region. They are apparently on an intercept  
  
course with Rubeus' ship."  
  
Picard had a sudden sinking feeling. "Ensign Ro, can you confirm  
  
that?"  
  
Ro took a moment to plot out the courses of the ships in question  
  
before answering. "Yes, sir. They will intercept this ship in  
  
approximately one hour at the coordinates listed for the quantum flux."  
  
"This just gets better and better," said Riker.  
  
"Well, you know what they say: It never rains, it just comes down  
  
cats and dogs." Luna glared at her, whereas Artemis merely sighed and  
  
shook his head.  
  
  
  
  
  
Next Time: The race is on to prevent Rubeus from using the power of the  
  
Borg to assimilate the Scout's Earth, while at the same time get Sailor  
  
Moon off his ship. Meanwhile, an old 'friend' of Picard and company  
  
finally shows up. Be here next time for "Q's and Answers".  
  
Plus: Sailor Jupiter vs Q! 


	4. Chapter 4 - Q's and Answers

Soton@aol.com  
  
  
  
Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
  
  
Chapter 4 - Q's and Answers:  
  
Silence reigned on the bridge as Worf's news sank in. Finally  
  
Jupiter gave voice to her frustration. "Great! So Serena is going to  
  
be in the middle of the crossfire when they attack that thing!"  
  
Riker took a step closer to Picard. "We could just about handle  
  
one Borg ship," he observed quietly. "How are we supposed to take on  
  
three of them, close off the quantum flux AND rescue Sailor Moon at the  
  
same time?"  
  
Picard didn't reply to Riker's question. At the moment, he didn't  
  
have a clue as to what he was going to do. "Merde," he said quietly.  
  
  
  
The two Borg ships were waiting for them when they dropped out of  
  
warp. Picard shuddered inwardly at the sight on the viewscreen.  
  
As Riker had observed, a single Borg ship had been hard enough to  
  
handle. Starfleet had thrown a fleet of forty starships at one at Wolf  
  
359... and lost thirty nine of them. It was only by sheer luck that  
  
the Enterprise had been able to stop them at Earth.  
  
But three? This was the stuff that nightmares were made of.  
  
The two unblemished cubes took flanking positions of Rubeus' ship.  
  
The three large vessels came to a halt, seemingly staring each other  
  
down. "Keep us out of the line of fire, Ensign," he ordered.  
  
"Aye, sir."  
  
"The Borg are signalling Rubeus," Worf reported.  
  
"Let's listen in, Mr. Worf," said Picard.  
  
The Klingon touched a control, and the Borg signal sounded over the  
  
speakers. Picard noted sympathetically that the Scouts shuddered at  
  
hearing that cold, mechanical voice. He had a similar reaction when he  
  
had first heard it, nearly three years previously.  
  
And he still heard it in his nightmares.  
  
"We are the Borg. Your attempt to break with the collective will  
  
not succeed. You are to be reassimilated immediately. Your biological  
  
and technological distinctiveness will once more be added to our own.  
  
Failure to comply will result in your destruction. Resistance is  
  
futile."  
  
Silence fell over the bridge as they all awaited Rubeus' reply.  
  
"I think not."  
  
Immediately, the two Borg ships began to fire upon the renegade,  
  
the energy discharge of the Borg weaponry playing out along it's hull.  
  
Several of their tractor beam weapons could be seen trying to latch  
  
themselves to the surface of the renegade.  
  
"Here's where it gets interesting," commented Riker. Several  
  
cutting beams lanced out, gouging long swathes in the hull.  
  
"Why aren't they doing something?" Jupiter asked. Rubeus' ship  
  
seemed to ignoring it's attackers, despite the damage it was taking.  
  
Then it began to glow... faintly at first, then a bright white.  
  
"Energy readings are going off the scale," reported Lieutenant  
  
Ramirez, who had taken Data's place at ops. The glow became intense,  
  
causing all on the bridge to shield their eyes from the glare. When it  
  
seemed it couldn't get any brighter, a blinding beam of energy came from  
  
Rubeus' ship and struck a Borg ship dead center. An even brighter flash  
  
temporarily overloaded the viewscreen. When it cleared, all that was  
  
remained of the Borg ship was an expanding cloud of debris.  
  
"My God!" Troi said.  
  
"What the hell was that?" asked Riker.  
  
Worf checked the sensors. "They are employing an energy weapon of  
  
immense power. Type unknown." The remaining ship continued to fire,  
  
but with greater intensity. "I am reading extensive damage to the outer  
  
hull of Rubeus' ship, but not enough to disable it."  
  
"A weapon that could destroy a Borg ship with one blast. It's  
  
almost beyond belief," Picard observed in a low voice. Rubeus' ship  
  
again began to glow, evidently preparing to fire another blast. "Picard  
  
to Data. Is the modified torpedo ready?"  
  
"Very nearly, sir. I estimate another five minutes."  
  
"We may not have that long, Mr. Data. Time is of the essence."  
  
"Understood," came the android's calm reply.  
  
The light from the screen began building to a blinding intensity  
  
again. Outside, the remaining Borg ship started, incredibly, to  
  
withdraw, only to be seized by a tractor beam from the renegade Borg ship.  
  
"I don't believe it," Mercury gasped when her analysis of the new  
  
weapon was complete. "That energy pulse!" she exclaimed. "It's from  
  
the Silver Crystal! Somehow they've managed to use it as a weapon!"  
  
"Impossible!" Luna stated firmly. "They can't be able to use it  
  
while..." her voice trailed off.  
  
"She's alive Luna," Darien told her, no doubt whatsoever present in  
  
his voice. Still, his expression was one of deep concern. How was  
  
Rubeus able to use the Silver Crystal as a weapon? Serena would never  
  
give it to him, not as long as she lived. And as long as she lived, he  
  
would never be able to control it. So how was he doing it?  
  
He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.  
  
The screen flared white again, and the other Borg vessel was  
  
reduced to a cloud of gas and debris. Moving away from the wreckage,  
  
the renegade Borg ship began to approach the Enterprise, a white glow  
  
surrounding it and building in intensity.  
  
"I think we're in trouble," Venus decidedly understated.  
  
"Captain," Worf exclaimed, "they're locking weapons on us!"  
  
"Yep, we're definitely in trouble."  
  
Picard was about to order evasive maneuvers when Data's voice came  
  
over the comm system, "Sir, the torpedo is loaded and ready."  
  
An wild idea came to Picard, as desperation fueled his need. "Get  
  
a sensor bearing on the quantum flux," he ordered.  
  
"Bearing two four seven mark five," Ro answered. "Distance, one  
  
hundred thousand kilometers."  
  
"Set course two four seven, mark five, speed at warp nine. I want  
  
us to come out of warp at point blank range to the flux."  
  
Riker looked at his captain. "The Picard Maneuver?"  
  
"A variation of it, Number One," the captain acknowledged.  
  
Ro nodded. "Ready, sir." On the screen, the Borg ship was  
  
glowing brightly.  
  
Picard brought his left hand forward. "Stand by torpedo. Engage."  
  
An outside observer would have been impressed. The warp engines  
  
propelled the ship forward rapidly, so fast it seemed to vanish for a  
  
brief second. At the same moment, the Borg ship unleashed it's weapon  
  
at where the Enterprise had been. Then, impossibly, it curved,  
  
following and striking the starship just as it came out of warp. There  
  
was a massive burst of light, and the Enterprise was gone.  
  
  
  
"Excellent." Rubeus watched with satisfaction. Unlike the Borg  
  
ships, it seemed that the destruction of the Enterprise hadn't even left  
  
the smallest bit of debris. His new weapon had utterly removed it from  
  
existence.  
  
Pity. He would have liked to have had a trophy from it, to remind  
  
himself of his triumph over the Scouts. Tuxedo Mask's hat, for instance.  
  
After a few moments more of gloating, he got back to the business  
  
at hand. First he had to traverse the quantum flux to his native  
  
universe. Then it was on to Crystal Tokyo.  
  
No one, not even Queen Serenity herself, was going to stand in his  
  
way this time.  
  
  
  
On some unknown plane of existence, a watching, omnipotent entity  
  
was chuckling. Rubeus was such an arrogant fool. Even Worf had more  
  
sense than him.  
  
  
  
There was a blinding flash of light on the bridge, followed by the  
  
deck pitching violently. Ro and Ramirez clung to their station for dear  
  
life while the others were tossed about like rag dolls as the artificial  
  
gravity went wild. All over the bridge, panels exploded and the lights  
  
fluctuated, then dimmed to emergency levels.  
  
Finally, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.  
  
Picard heard several groans on the darkened bridge, as he picked  
  
himself off the deck. He winced at the various bruises he himself had  
  
received, but tried instead to concentrate on the status of his crew  
  
first. "Is everyone alright?"  
  
"More or less," Mars answered him, holding her left shoulder. She  
  
flexed the limb experimentally. It hurt, but seemed more or less  
  
functional. Whatever injury she had, it could wait.  
  
Mercury activated her visor and began a sweep of the bridge. On  
  
her visor, each individual was highlighted in turn and a quick diagnosis  
  
of their conditions was made. "Bumps and bruises for the most part,  
  
though Commander Riker has a broken wrist. And --"  
  
Venus' anguished voice interrupted her, "Artemis!" She carefully  
  
picked up the white cat.  
  
"It's... just a broken leg, Mina," he painfully reassured her.  
  
"Nothing too serious."  
  
"Fortunately it's a clean beak," Mercury said, doing a detailed  
  
scan. "It should heal naturally once it's been set."  
  
"We can do better than that," Picard answered her. "Bridge to  
  
Sickbay." Silence answered him. "Bridge to Engineering." After  
  
waiting a few moments, "The comm system must be down. Ensign Ro, head  
  
for Engineering. Get me a damage report."  
  
"Aye, sir," the Bajoran replied, already heading for the Jeffries  
  
tubes. Anticipating the captain's next order, Ramirez was already  
  
breaking out the emergency med kit stored in the forward part of the  
  
bridge.  
  
Picard nodded approvingly. The next step was ascertaining the  
  
condition of the ship. It would take Ro a while to make her way to  
  
Engineering, but fortunately he had an alternative to waiting. Not that  
  
he was any position to do anything with the information, but it was  
  
better than doing nothing. "Mercury, can you get a detailed scan of the  
  
rest of the ship?"  
  
"I think so," she replied and set out to do so. She reset the focus  
  
of her scan, looking beyond the bridge and checking out the other parts  
  
of the ship.  
  
While she was doing so, Ramirez did what he could to tend to the  
  
injured. In short order, he used the bone knitters in the medkit to  
  
mend Riker's broken wrist and Artemis' leg (after having Worf set the  
  
injured limb).  
  
"Your main power is offline, as are the auxiliary systems," Mercury  
  
reported. "Life support is drawing off emergency power. But the  
  
structure seems intact, and I'm getting life readings all through it."  
  
"What about the Borg?"  
  
She shook her head. "I'm not detecting them." Then she frowned,  
  
"As a matter of fact, I'm not detecting anything outside the ship."  
  
"Mr. Worf, can we get the main viewscreen back online?"  
  
Worf went over to the ops console and tried to work the controls.  
  
"Negative, sir. We only have emergency power available. All the  
  
bridge consoles are offline."  
  
"There's one way we can check what's outside," Riker said, going  
  
into the conference room. As the others followed him in, they heard him  
  
say, "What the hell?"  
  
The assemblage of Sailor Scouts and Starfleet personnel stared out  
  
the conference room windows. Outside they saw not the star speckled  
  
blackness of space but only a formless, gray haze. It was as if the  
  
Enterprise was encompassed in a massive fogbank.  
  
Venus was the first to find her voice. "What happened? Are we  
  
dead?"  
  
"I don't feel dead," replied Sailor Mars.  
  
"Well, then how come we weren't destroyed?" Jupiter asked. "I  
  
thought those Borg cubes were supposed to be a lot tougher than this  
  
ship."  
  
"Don't look a gift horse in the eye."  
  
Riker gave Venus an uncertain look, then whispered to Mercury, "Is  
  
she always doing that?" Slightly embarrassed, she nodded while Artemis  
  
sighed.  
  
Worf brought out a tricorder. "The tricorder is not registering  
  
anything outside of the ship. It is as if the universe outside the  
  
Enterprise does not exist."  
  
"I'm not detecting anything either," Mercury put in. She still  
  
had her visor deployed and was supplementing it with her computer. "All  
  
my space-time readings show zero."  
  
"Are you saying we're nowhere, Mercury?" asked Tuxedo Mask.  
  
"An appropriate choice of words" said an invisible voice. Riker  
  
groaned, for it was all too familiar to the crew. Amid a flash of  
  
light, Q appeared in the conference room, lounging in Picard's usual  
  
seat at the head of the table. "Let's just say you're outside the  
  
normal bounds of space and time. At least as far as your limited minds  
  
can understand them." The Scouts stared at him, unsure who or what he  
  
was.  
  
Picard knew exactly who he was dealing with. "Q. It's about time  
  
you showed your face."  
  
The entity got up and approached the captain, looking somewhat  
  
aggrieved. "I would have expected a little more gratitude from you,  
  
Jean-Luc. After all, I just saved your precious ship and crew from a  
  
rather ignominious fate by plucking it out of space and time just before  
  
it exploded."  
  
"But not before the ship was badly damaged and many of my crew were  
  
injured."  
  
"Oh, posh," Q shrugged it off. "There's no damage that can't be  
  
fixed and be rest assured that none of your little trained minions were  
  
badly hurt."  
  
"You set up this entire situation, didn't you?" Riker accused.  
  
The mischievous entity shrugged. "If by that you mean, did I bring  
  
Sailor Wailing Moon and her fellow Scouts, along with the caped crusader  
  
and their talkative feline companions here, then the answer would be  
  
yes." He glanced over at the security chief. "Oh, by the way, has your  
  
hearing recovered yet, Microbrain?" Showing remarkable restraint, Worf  
  
stared stoically at him, his anger only visible in his eyes. After  
  
chuckling for a second, Q looked at Picard with a more serious  
  
expression. "However, I had nothing to do with Rubeus getting here. He  
  
did that strictly on his own."  
  
"So why'd you bring us here?" demanded Jupiter.  
  
"I thought that would have been obvious, even to someone of your  
  
limited intellect," Q quipped. Jupiter glared at him, and took a  
  
threatening step in his direction.  
  
Venus put a restraining hold on her friend. "Easy, Jupiter. He's  
  
just trying to bait you."  
  
"It's not very difficult either," Q smirked. "Really Worf, you  
  
should get to know her better. She's just perfect for you. And vice  
  
versa. After all, to her every male looks like her old boyfriend."  
  
That did it. This creep had definitely crossed the line. Lita  
  
gathered up her power, intent on blasting Q into next week. "JUPITER  
  
THUNDERCLAP..."  
  
"Lita, no!" cried out Luna.  
  
It was like watching an old fashioned gunfight. The enraged Scout  
  
stood at one end of the conference table, ready to hurl her attack,  
  
while Q merely stood there at the other end with a huge grin on his face.  
  
"ZAP!"  
  
The disk of electrical energy flew over the table and struck Q dead  
  
center with the stereotypical sound of an electrical discharge. Picard  
  
could swear that he saw a skeleton figure where Q was standing amid the  
  
storm of electricity. When it cleared, Q was still standing there  
  
grinning, his hair comically standing on end. "Shocking!" He snapped  
  
his fingers and his hair resumed its normal state. He held his hand  
  
palm upward and a little ball of electricity danced over it. Tossing it  
  
idly about as if it were a baseball he asked, "Think you can take the  
  
same?"  
  
The captain interposed himself between Jupiter and malicious  
  
entity. "Q."  
  
"Oh, don't worry Picard. I'm willing to let her vent her  
  
emotions." Q made a waving motion with his hand and the lightning ball  
  
vanished. Looking at Jupiter, his voice took on a harder edge.  
  
"This time."  
  
The tall Scout wasn't about to back down, though. "Why you..."  
  
Mars and Venus both moved to restrain their friend. "Not now,  
  
Jupiter. We can't help Sailor Moon if we let this creep zap us," the  
  
blonde reminded her.  
  
"Creep?" Q sniffed. "That's a fine thing coming from someone who  
  
can't even get a boyfriend." Venus glared at him, and Mars found  
  
herself in the somewhat unusual position of trying to calm someone else  
  
down. Usually she was the one with the raging temper.  
  
Artemis leapt onto the table. "You know, Guinan is absolutely  
  
right about you. You're absolutely contemptible, with no redeeming  
  
features whatsoever."  
  
The entity must have been feeling decidedly petulant. "And for a  
  
small cat, you certainly have a big mouth... not to mention a surly  
  
attitude. Maybe this will help you relax," Q said and snapped his  
  
fingers. The white cat vanished.  
  
"ARTEMIS!!" Luna exclaimed.  
  
Venus barged past Mars (who didn't even try to stop her) and  
  
stormed up to Q. "What have you done with him?!? Bring him back!"  
  
she demanded, leveling a finger at his face.  
  
"You know, it's really cute the way your nostrils flare when  
  
you're angry."  
  
"Where is he?" Luna demanded.  
  
"Oh, he's quite safe," he reassured her. "And he's still on the  
  
ship, too. Deck five, room three four seven to be exact."  
  
Riker looked puzzled. "Data's quarters? But why --"  
  
"Oh, no," Troi interrupted him. "It's Spot. She's in heat."  
  
An uneasy silence descended on the room. Finally Darien asked,  
  
"Who's Spot?"  
  
"She's... Data's cat," Riker answered. An unrepentant Q smirked  
  
under their glares, while Luna and Venus each looked mad enough to kill.  
  
"Bring him back, or I'll --"  
  
"Or you'll what? Bind me with that gold chain of yours?" Q was  
  
obviously enjoying himself. "That I'd like to see."  
  
Picard could see that the situation was rapidly spiraling out of  
  
control and stepped in before Q pushed the Scouts too far. "We're  
  
through playing your games, Q," h said. "If you came here for a reason,  
  
I suggest you get to the point. And bring Artemis back here at once!"  
  
"Oh, very well," he said with a sigh and snapped his fingers. A  
  
slightly disheveled Artemis reappeared on the table.  
  
Amy tried to get the conversation back on track. "You brought us  
  
here to help the Enterprise face Rubeus, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes!" He walked over to Mercury, a smile beaming on his face.  
  
"It's so nice to have someone of high intellect around here." Glancing at  
  
Riker and Worf he added, "It makes for a nice change."  
  
Mercury frowned at him. She had only been around Q for a few  
  
minutes, but already she could see why Guinan and the other Enterprise  
  
crewmembers thought so little of him. "I'm not sure that's a  
  
compliment, coming from you."  
  
An expression of shock crossed his face. "How rude! Well, to  
  
answer your question, yes, that's why I transported the lot of you here.  
  
I knew that Picard and his merry band really didn't have any chance  
  
against a group of Borg reinforced by Rubeus' power. However, I didn't  
  
count on Sailor Moon being taken prisoner... or on Picard almost letting  
  
his precious ship get blown to smithereens. Really, Jean-Luc, that was  
  
very sloppy of you."  
  
"Why save us at all, Q?" asked Picard.  
  
"A weakness on my part, Jean-Luc. I found that I couldn't bear the  
  
thought of a universe without Worf to antagonize." The Klingon officer  
  
didn't deign to comment. After all, there was no honor in allowing Q to  
  
antagonize him.  
  
"OK, but why bring the ship here?" Tuxedo Masked asked, indicating  
  
the formless void outside. "Why didn't you simply protect the ship and  
  
leave us where we were."  
  
"The answer to that, cape boy, is that I could see that you simply  
  
weren't ready handle Rubeus and his merry band. You need time to plan,  
  
to prepare. So you're getting it, courtesy of little moi. When you're  
  
ready, I'll transport you to the sight of the battle." Picard watched Q  
  
carefully. Something about his reply didn't quite ring true, but he  
  
wasn't about to question it at the moment. There would be time enough  
  
for that later.  
  
"And if the Borg use the Silver Crystal on us again?" asked Troi.  
  
Q made a dismissive gesture. "They will try, but it will be  
  
ineffective."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" asked Mars.  
  
"Simple, firebug," Mars glared at that, "If I could protect you once,  
  
I can do it again. And again if necessary. But I'm afraid, aside from  
  
some helpful tidbits of information, that this is the limit of my aid.  
  
Others," he glared momentarily at the ceiling, "have placed...  
  
restrictions on my actions."  
  
"You're going to help us?" asked a disbelieving Tuxedo Mask.  
  
"Believe it or not, yes!" Q snapped. "And here's my first tidbit  
  
of advice: When the Borg ship emerges from the flux, their power systems  
  
will be temporarily depleted from the passage. You won't be under that  
  
handicap. It will be possible to beam over, and rescue your beloved.  
  
Though why you would want to is beyond me."  
  
Picard ignored Q's sarcastic commentary and focused on the  
  
essential information he had given them. "Depleted?" A possible  
  
strategy came to mind, and he turned to Riker. "The main deflector  
  
dish."  
  
The first officer looked uncertain. "It didn't work too well last  
  
time."  
  
"But that ship was prepared for it, and at nearly full power as  
  
well. This ship will have it's power reserves drained." If we can  
  
believe Q, he added silently. "It may well work this time around. We  
  
should have LaForge begin work on it immediately after repairs to ships  
  
systems are completed." As if on cue, the main lighting came back on,  
  
accompanied by the chime of the comm system.  
  
"LaForge to Captain Picard."  
  
"Picard here. What's our status, Commander?"  
  
"We just got auxiliary power back online, sir, and main power  
  
should be available soon. I'm not sure how, but whatever hit us, all  
  
it did was blow circuit breakers all over the ship. We've been busy  
  
resetting them. That's it, other than some minor hull damage."  
  
Q smirked. "I told you so."  
  
Picard glared momentarily at him. "Geordi, once you've completed  
  
that, I want to begin modifying the main deflector dish just as you did  
  
against the Borg the last time. Commander Riker will give you the  
  
details."  
  
LaForge's voice sounded uncertain. "Aye, sir."  
  
"What should we do in the meantime?" asked Venus.  
  
"You could go shopping on the holodeck," Q suggested, earning him  
  
a glare from all the Scouts. Picard briefly raised his eye heavenward.  
  
It seemed Q was in rare form on this particular visit. Once again  
  
Picard wished he would make himself rarer still. Go away and never  
  
return, for instance.  
  
"I hate to say it, but the holodeck might not be such a bad idea.  
  
We could program a series of simulations," Riker suggested. "Get them  
  
used to working with us, and with what they'll see on a Borg ship."  
  
Picard nodded approvingly. "A good idea, Number One. Worf, Data  
  
and I will work with them, while you plan the tactics for the ship to  
  
ship part of the confrontation." He started to walk to the door,  
  
ignoring the look of surprise on Riker's and Troi's faces.  
  
"Sir?" Riker asked uncertainly.  
  
Picard stopped and looked back at the first officer. "I'll be  
  
leading the away team, Number One."  
  
Q beamed with delight. "Oh, this should be fun."  
  
  
  
Next time: The Scouts prepare to board Rubeus' ship, while Riker sizes  
  
Picard up for a strait jacket. The final confrontation begins in  
  
"Rescue Mission". 


	5. Chapter 5 - Rescue Mission

Soton@aol.com  
  
  
  
Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 5 - Rescue Mission  
  
"Captain, could I have a word with you?" Riker inquired. Glancing  
  
at the others he added, "In private."  
  
Picard nodded, having a good idea what the first officer wanted to  
  
discuss. "If you'll excuse us?" Acceding to his request, the others  
  
made their way back onto the bridge. As the security chief was leaving  
  
he said, "Mr. Worf, escort the Scouts to Holodeck Two, and begin working  
  
with them and Mr. Data. I'll be joining you shortly." Riker remained  
  
silent, but his face had a "We'll-see-about-this" expression.  
  
"Aye, sir."  
  
Picard was about to address his first officer when he realized that  
  
Q was still present. "You also, Q. *Out.*"  
  
"Well, I know where I'm not wanted," the entity grumbled and  
  
promptly vanished.  
  
"That'll be the day," Picard observed softly.  
  
  
  
After the door had closed behind them, Mars asked, "What's wrong?"  
  
"It's... unusual for a captain to lead an away mission," Troi  
  
answered hesitantly. "Typically the first officer does while the  
  
captain remains on the ship."  
  
Jupiter frowned and observed, "Gee, it wasn't like that for  
  
Captain Kirk."  
  
Q chose that moment to reappear, startling the two Moon cats.  
  
"Times change," he stated. "And not always for the better."  
  
"Shut up, Q!" several voices exclaimed in unison.  
  
  
  
"With all due respect, sir," Riker said sharply as soon as Q had  
  
vanished, "have you lost your mind?"  
  
Picard regarded him with a slightly amused expression. "Don't you  
  
think you're overreacting, Will?"  
  
"No, sir, I don't," he responded. "As first officer, it's my duty  
  
to handle the away missions to keep the captain out of unnecessary danger.  
  
And in my book... hell in anyone's book... leading a rescue mission onto  
  
a Borg ship definitely qualifies." He took a step closer to Picard.  
  
"Sir, why are you so intent on leading this away team?"  
  
Picard sighed and sat down. "I have my reasons, Will. Firstly, I  
  
know my way around a Borg ship. I know the Borg."  
  
"True," Riker conceded. "But I've been on a Borg ship as well, and  
  
I've had experience in dealing with them."  
  
"I think we can agree that my experiences were of a more...  
  
intimate nature," Picard countered.  
  
Riker grimaced. He had no real counter to that argument. Picard's  
  
time as Locutus had given him an insight into the Borg that no one else  
  
could match. "I can't argue with that. But I still believe that this  
  
is a totally unacceptable risk you're taking."  
  
"It is a risk, Number One, but it's one worth taking." Picard  
  
paused, trying to find the proper phrasing. "It is likely... no,  
  
inevitable, that we will have future encounters with the Borg. When  
  
that happens, I have to be able to confront the Borg face to face. And  
  
it's not something I can do from the bridge."  
  
Riker looked thoughtful as he considered the captain's reasoning.  
  
"Sir, these aren't the usual type of Borg we'll be facing. They may  
  
react entirely differently to what you're used..."  
  
"Be that as it may, I'm going, Commander," Picard interrupted his  
  
first officer, his voice a little harder than he wanted. Then in a  
  
quieter tone, he added, "This is something I have to do, Will."  
  
  
  
Darien and the Scouts looked around as they entered Holodeck Two.  
  
It was a featureless room, the all black save for a gold colored grid  
  
adorning the walls, ceiling and floor. "This is a holodeck?" Venus  
  
wondered. "It doesn't look like much."  
  
"That is because we have not created the program for it to run,"  
  
Data responded. He had met them at the entrance, waiting patiently for  
  
them to arrive. "Computer: access log records and recreate the interior  
  
of a Borg ship." Instantly the room vanished and they stood inside a  
  
Borg ship.  
  
The five newcomers marveled at the realism of the simulation.  
  
"Wow," Jupiter commented. "You guys have the technology to do this?"  
  
"The holodeck can create virtually any environment that is needed,"  
  
Worf answered. "They are used both for recreation and for training  
  
simulations."  
  
"This may not be an entirely accurate simulation as Rubeus has  
  
undoubtedly made alterations to the Borg craft," Data said.  
  
"Nevertheless, it should provide us an opportunity to work with you."  
  
"The captain wanted us to begin at once," Worf informed the  
  
android. "He will join us later."  
  
"I see."  
  
"You don't seem too surprised that Captain Picard will be going  
  
with us," Mars commented.  
  
"As I am an android, I am incapable of expressing, or experiencing,  
  
emotions such as surprise."  
  
Tuxedo Mask frowned. "Android?"  
  
"He's a synthetic life form. He was created, not born," Mercury  
  
answered.  
  
Venus stared at Data. "You mean he's a robot?"  
  
"Android. Not a robot," Data corrected her. "Computer: Load  
  
Borg combat training simulation alpha and begin program." The two  
  
Starfleet officers drew their weapons and readied themselves.  
  
Simultaneously, several of the Borg simulacrums moved out of their slots  
  
and moved towards them.  
  
Before either could fire, Mars cried out, "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE  
  
SURROUND!"  
  
Several ringlets of fire struck an approaching Borg, while a thrown  
  
rose struck another. Both began flickering on and off, and the computer  
  
announced "Program error."  
  
"Interesting," Data commented as he put away his phaser.  
  
"Computer: Freeze program." The other Borg in sight froze in their  
  
tracks.  
  
Worf eyed the still flickering Borg. "What happened?"  
  
"Don't blame me," Mars said defensively. "I did what I would do  
  
over there."  
  
"I did not blame you."  
  
"Computer: Arch." Data examined the readouts on the holodeck  
  
controls. "The computer was not able to accurately interpret the effects  
  
of Sailor Mars' attack, nor was it able to handle Tuxedo Mask's. I  
  
surmise it will be necessary to examine the various attack modes of each  
  
of the Scouts and have the computer analyze them in turn."  
  
"Then let's get started," Jupiter said. "We're wasting time."  
  
  
  
Picard entered Sickbay and, after pausing a moment to locate her,  
  
went over to Dr. Crusher. He had been on his way to the holodeck when  
  
Beverly had called and asked him to make the detour here. He fervently  
  
hoped that Riker hadn't enlisted her help in trying to dissuade him from  
  
leading the away mission. He didn't feel like fighting that battle  
  
again. "You wanted to see me, Beverly?"  
  
She looked up from her patient, worry evident on her face. "Yes,  
  
Jean-Luc. It's about Ensign Harris."  
  
Picard looked down at the biobed and was stunned. He remembered  
  
greeting her less than a week before when she had first reported for  
  
bridge duty. She had been an attractive young woman, not even a year  
  
out of the Academy. Now, her skin had taken on the tone of chalk and her  
  
expression was dull and lifeless as she stared at the ceiling. But worst  
  
of all, on the right side of her face was obviously a Borg implant of  
  
some sort.  
  
He knew at once that Ensign Kristin Harris was no more. Only a  
  
Borg drone remained.  
  
"How...?"  
  
Beverly shook her head. "I'm not completely certain, but I  
  
believe that the Borg injected a series of nanoprobes into her. Once  
  
inside, they began replicating themselves and making alterations in her  
  
biochemistry -- even down to her DNA. They've also constructed a series  
  
of implants which I think serve to connect her to the Borg collective."  
  
"That would explain her inactivity at the present time. Since Q  
  
has removed us from normal space and time, there's no connection to be  
  
made with the collective." Picard paused for a moment. "Can you treat  
  
her? Can you remove the implants from her as you did... as you did with  
  
me?"  
  
Crusher hesitated before replying. "Not at the moment, no. Your  
  
assimilation involved a simple series of cybernetic implants, which I was  
  
easily able to remove. But for her, I would have to somehow remove  
  
millions, if not billions by now, of these nanoprobes. And the way  
  
they've hooked themselves up to her cellular structure, not even the  
  
transporter biofilters can separate them out." The two were silent for  
  
a time. "Captain, I believe that your assimilation used a unique method,  
  
for one reason or another. This seems to be their standard method of  
  
assimilation. Anyone who undergoes this process may be lost...  
  
permanently."  
  
Picard looked up sharply and stared at her for a moment. He then  
  
turned and strode determinedly out of Sickbay, leaving the doctor with her  
  
patient.  
  
  
  
His thoughts still in turmoil over what he had seen in sickbay,  
  
Picard walked onto the holodeck without looking ahead and stopped short.  
  
He had been expecting to walk into the middle of a simulation of the  
  
interior of a Borg ship, but instead he saw the familiar sight of the  
  
holodeck grid. At the far side of the room he could discern several of  
  
the transporter test objects.  
  
Or at least that's what they used to be. Several of the them were  
  
charred, melted and blackened in some manner, and one had somehow become  
  
encased in ice.  
  
As he was taking this in, Data looked up from where he was placing  
  
another test object in the center of the room. Anticipating his  
  
captain's question, he explained, "We have been analyzing each of the  
  
Scouts' attack powers. Since their powers do not adhere to the laws of  
  
physics as we understand them, the computer was unable to correctly  
  
interact them with the holographic simulation."  
  
"I see," Picard said, looking over the results. "How long until  
  
we can begin the training exercise?"  
  
"We're nearly finished," answered Mercury from behind him. He  
  
turned and saw the Scouts clustered around the arch, Tuxedo Mask standing  
  
in front. Worf was standing to one side, an expression of impatience  
  
written on his face. Mercury was standing by the arch controls and was  
  
also holding her palmtop. She evidently had been assisting Data in  
  
analysis of their powers.  
  
"Only Tuxedo Mask remains to have his powers analyzed," Data said,  
  
rejoining them.  
  
"Proceed," Picard said, briefly wondering how a thrown rose could  
  
cause the computer problems. His question was answered when the rose  
  
struck the test object and deeply embedded itself in it. Picard walked  
  
up to it and examined it with a growing sense of awe. The test object  
  
was composed mainly of duranium, a very hard substance used extensively  
  
for starship hulls, and yet the rose had penetrated it easily. "Most  
  
impressive," he said, managing to keep his voice sounding nonchalant.  
  
"Though I would be careful about throwing those through the hull, if I  
  
were you."  
  
  
  
Crusher entered the conference room, and found Riker seated at one  
  
end of the long table. Seated atop the table were the two cats, in a  
  
deep discussion with the first officer. Crusher mentally shook her head  
  
and approached the trio. The concept of talking felines was still  
  
something she was getting used to. "You wanted to see me, Will?"  
  
"Yes," Riker acknowledged, gesturing to a seat. As she sat down,  
  
"We've been planing a strategy for our next meeting with Rubeus." The  
  
doctor immediately had a skeptical look on her face which said 'You're  
  
discussing starship tactics with a couple of *cats*?', to which Riker  
  
responded, "I know what you're thinking Beverly. But while they don't  
  
have any knowledge about the Borg..."  
  
"...we do know Rubeus," Artemis concluded.  
  
"That's certainly true," Beverly admitted.  
  
Riker handed her the padd he'd been working on. "The basics of  
  
what we've come up with are outlined here."  
  
Crusher studied the padd's contents for a moment and frowned.  
  
"Will, this looks very similar to the strategy you used against the  
  
Borg at Wolf 359."  
  
Riker nodded. "We've made some alterations, such as using the  
  
deflector dish, but you're right. The core strategy is still the same."  
  
Beverly looked puzzled. "Won't the Borg be ready for that?"  
  
"You have to remember, it's more than the Borg you're dealing with  
  
here," Luna reminded her. "Rubeus is controlling that ship now. It's  
  
him we have to outthink."  
  
Artemis continued, "His weakness is his own arrogance. If he  
  
thinks that you're just using a strategy that worked before..."  
  
"...he won't bother looking for anything else." She nodded and put  
  
down the padd. "So what do you need me for?"  
  
"I want you to command the saucer section," Riker answered.  
  
"Will, I'm a doctor... not a command line officer," she immediately  
  
objected.  
  
"You're a senior officer, Beverly, and you've been bridge qualified.  
  
Worf and Data are accompanying the captain and I need Geordi in  
  
engineering. And I don't want to hand this over to a junior officer.  
  
Simply put, you're it."  
  
  
  
Several hours later, a very tired Geordi LaForge emerged from the  
  
bridge turbolift. He stopped short at the sight of Q lounging there...  
  
in mid-air. He quickly recovered and went over to report to Riker.  
  
"We're in business. I've got the main deflector rigged to emit the high  
  
energy burst. All the phaser banks have been rigged to vary their firing  
  
frequencies automatically and I've remodulated the shield nutations of  
  
both sections. All other ship systems are repaired and operational.  
  
We're as ready as we're gonna get."  
  
"Well it's about time. All this waiting around is getting boring."  
  
Riker made it a point to ignore Q. "Well done, Geordi. Riker to  
  
Picard."  
  
"Picard here. What is it Number One?"  
  
"We're all set up here. Ready whenever you are."  
  
"Very well." A loud crash in the background interrupted him.  
  
Riker heard someone yell "Watch where you're aiming that thing!" then  
  
heard the captain sigh.  
  
"Is everything OK, sir?"  
  
"Just a... minor disagreement between Worf and Sailor Mars," the  
  
captain replied, sounding very tired. "One of a number of that we've had  
  
over the last few hours." Unconsciously echoing the chief engineer, he  
  
added "We're about as ready as we'll ever be. Considering our current  
  
location, we can afford to have just Mr. Data on duty. That will give  
  
everyone else a chance to get some rest before we proceed."  
  
  
  
The chime from the door startled Darien out of his reverie. "Yes?"  
  
The door opened, allowing Troi to enter. "Something I can do for you,  
  
Counselor?"  
  
"Actually, I came to see if there was something I could do for you,"  
  
she answered. "I could sense your frustration from the other side of the  
  
ship. Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
He returned his gaze to the gray nothingness outside the ship.  
  
"There's nothing to talk about. I'm fine."  
  
Troi briefly considered her options. Ordinarily she'd leave it at  
  
that, letting him decide on his own when, or if, he wanted her help. But  
  
the current situation didn't allow for that. Very shortly he'd be  
  
accompanying the captain on a dangerous away mission. There was no real  
  
choice except to force the issue. "Sure you are," she said, putting a  
  
patronizing tone to her voice. "You're just radiating more anger than  
  
I've felt in Worf for an entire year because everything's just fine." An  
  
exaggeration, to be sure, but one that was warranted.  
  
He whirled at her, "What do you want me to say? Yes, I'm angry!  
  
Angry at myself, because I couldn't protect Serena, that I couldn't stop  
  
Rubeus from kidnapping her! Is that what you wanted to hear?"  
  
"Partially," she admitted. "But there's more to it, isn't there?"  
  
He glared at her for a moment, then nodded. "Yes," he replied, his  
  
voice calmer. "Usually I can get a sense of her, how she's doing. But  
  
ever since Q put us here, I've felt *nothing*."  
  
"Since Q has removed us from normal space, that's understandable."  
  
"I know... but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with."  
  
"But you're going to have to try," Deanna said. "In a few hours,  
  
the captain and the Scouts are going to be counting on you when you go  
  
onto that ship. You owe it to them, and to Serena, to be ready. So stop  
  
your brooding and get some sleep."  
  
"Is that an order, Counselor?" he asked, a slight smile showing.  
  
"Yes," she said, returning the smile. "If necessary, I could have  
  
Dr. Crusher give you a sedative."  
  
"It's not," he replied, heading for the bedroom. Deanna turned and  
  
headed for the door. Not a textbook job of counseling, but then this  
  
wasn't exactly a textbook case. She paused in the corridor, trying to  
  
sense the emotional state of the Enterprise's other guests. She felt  
  
only the normal emotions associated with dreaming, though two of them  
  
seemed rather... erotic. If she read them right, both involved in one  
  
way or another... She smiled, laughing softly to herself. If they were  
  
on board for any length of time, Will was going to have a rough time of it.  
  
Well, there was no need to mention that to him. At least not right  
  
away.  
  
She was about to return to her own quarters when she winced, hearing  
  
some rather unladylike thoughts echo in her mind. Which was odd, since  
  
she normally only felt emotions, being half Betazoid. It took a full  
  
telepath, such as her mother, to communicate with her in this manner.  
  
She pressed the call button and the door opened in response,  
  
allowing her to enter. Dressed in the robes of a Shinto priestess, Raye  
  
stood up from where she had been kneeling in the center of the room.  
  
Deanna could see a large fire blazing there, but could tell from the lack  
  
of heat that it was holographic in nature. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"  
  
the Sailor Scout asked.  
  
"Well, I was on my way to my quarters, when I heard some rather...  
  
strong thoughts." She took a couple of steps into the room. "I can  
  
guess at the source of your frustration, but I don't think the captain  
  
would appreciate it if you did *that* to the ship's computer."  
  
"It's just that I can't read anything from *this*!" she exclaimed,  
  
viciously snapping off the hologram. "And that damned computer won't  
  
allow a real one in here." She glared at where the holographic fire had  
  
been for a moment before what Deanna had said sunk in. "Wait a minute...  
  
You *heard* my thoughts?!? I thought you were only an empath."  
  
"With other nontelepaths, that's true," Troi admitted. "But you  
  
seem to have a higher psionic potential than other humans." She paused  
  
and sent, *Can you hear this?*  
  
Raye started. "Yes, I did."  
  
*Try sending to me.*  
  
*You mean like this?*  
  
Deanna nodded.  
  
"Wow."  
  
  
  
It was nearly eight hours later when Riker entered the fully manned  
  
battle bridge. It seemed odd to be embarking into battle without either  
  
Worf or Data there, but he had full confidence that their replacements  
  
could handle their posts. In fact, Chief O'Brien had served as a tactical  
  
officer before, on the Rutledge during the Cardassian conflicts. "Are  
  
we all set Chief?"  
  
"Yes, sir," O'Brien replied.  
  
"Good." Riker moved to the center seat and realized that it was  
  
already occupied by a white feline. "No offense Artemis... but I believe  
  
you're in my chair."  
  
"Sorry," the cat easily replied. "It's just the best place to stay  
  
out of everyone's way... or at least it was." He jumped out of the chair  
  
and vaulted himself onto the bridge railing.  
  
Riker was sitting himself down in the command chair as Q appeared.  
  
"Oh, good. We're finally getting this little show on the road."  
  
Riker thought it best for all concerned to ignore the entity's  
  
usual sarcastic commentary. He may not like it, but Q's presence was a  
  
necessary evil for this to have any chance of working. "Q, can you  
  
protect the stardrive and saucer sections simultaneously?"  
  
"Of course," he replied with his typical smugness. "It's as easy  
  
as," and snapped his fingers.  
  
  
  
Crusher looked up from the command chair as Q materialized on the  
  
main bridge. He smiled and bowed melodramatically. "At your service,  
  
madame capitan."  
  
Luna, seated in the first officer's chair, shook her head.  
  
  
  
Riker nodded. "Good. Whenever you're ready, Q."  
  
"Your wish is my command," Q answered. Deciding to take the  
  
opportunity to needle Riker a little, he added, "Number two." As Riker  
  
glared at Q, he snapped his fingers. Smoothly, the viewscreen shifted to  
  
show the normal starfield it usually did.  
  
"We're in the Terran system," Ro reported, "fifty thousand  
  
kilometers outward from lunar orbit."  
  
"Red alert," Riker ordered. As the alert klaxons were sounding, he  
  
added, "Riker to Crusher. Stand by."  
  
"Standing by," the doctor answered over the intercom.  
  
"Picking up a tachyon surge," O'Brien said. Ahead of them space  
  
seemed to ripple and flow, and Rubeus' Borg ship appeared.  
  
"Right on cue," Riker said. Q glanced at him with an uncertain look.  
  
"Borg power levels are low. Their EM field is low enough to permit  
  
transport," said O'Brien.  
  
"Didn't I say so earlier?" Q snapped irritably.  
  
"Riker to Picard. Our guests have arrived. Stand by for transport."  
  
  
  
"We'll be waiting for your signal. Picard out." The captain looked  
  
over the assemblage of Starfleet officers and Sailor Scouts. Worf and  
  
Data were waiting patiently for the signal to beam over, whereas their  
  
allies where practically champing at the bit to various degrees. Only  
  
Mercury seemed at all at ease, but that was because she was distracting  
  
herself with her computer.  
  
"Why don't we just beam over now?" Tuxedo Mask finally asked.  
  
"It's all part of the plan," Picard reminded him. "The Enterprise  
  
sections are to provide a distraction by creating the impression that  
  
we're trying to sneak a shuttle inside their EM field. Rubeus may not  
  
know that it's currently too low to be effective, so hopefully we may be  
  
able to remain unopposed for a time." This seemed to mollify them to a  
  
degree.  
  
"Don't worry Darien. We'll be there soon enough," Venus said,  
  
patting the tuxedo clad warrior on the shoulder. "As they say: 'They  
  
also serve who stand at the plate.'"  
  
"They also serve who stand and wait," Data quickly corrected her.  
  
"Whatever," she growled.  
  
  
  
Rubeus stared at the monitor incredulously. "Impossible! They  
  
should have been destroyed! How did they survive?!? And how did they  
  
end up here?"  
  
  
  
"Riker to Crusher. Engage autoseperation sequence."  
  
Beverly touched a control on the command console. "Autosep  
  
sequence engaged." The was a faint clanging sound as the saucer  
  
separated from the stardrive section. It accelerated to full impulse  
  
and banked to port as it cleared from the other half of the Enterprise.  
  
"Commence fire."  
  
  
  
"The saucer section is now five hundred meters distant."  
  
Riker nodded while noting that the saucer had opened fire with both  
  
of it's phaser banks. So far, so good. "Engage warp engines. Put us on  
  
the far side of the Borg cube Ensign."  
  
The warp engines surged, propelling the stardrive section faster  
  
than light for a brief second. Unlike the Picard maneuver; which would  
  
put the ship nose to... side with the cube; it came out of warp at  
  
roughly the same distance that it started, only now it was at the far  
  
side of the enemy vessel.  
  
"Open fire, Chief," Riker ordered. "All weapons."  
  
Ro turned the ship to allow O'Brien to utilize as many of the ship's  
  
phasers at once as he could. In rapid succession, the chief unleashed a  
  
barrage from five of the stardrive's phaser banks, and he threw in a  
  
constant volley of photon torpedoes for good measure. "No discernable  
  
damage to the Borg vessel," said O'Brien.  
  
Riker nodded. That was to be expected when dealing with the Borg.  
  
"Helm, evasive pattern omega."  
  
  
  
Rubeus watched the battle on the monitors and chuckled gleefully as  
  
the Enterprise continued to fire. "Use all your phasers and photons!  
  
You can't possible harm this ship! But I can harm you." He mentally  
  
directed the defense systems to concentrate on the stardrive section.  
  
  
  
The stardrive section shuddered. "They've locked onto us with a  
  
tractor beam!" O'Brien yelled as he redirected the phasers to target the  
  
source. "Shields are being drained."  
  
"Bridge to engineering..."  
  
"I'm on it!" LaForge quickly answered. "Attempting to remodulate  
  
shield nutation."  
  
  
  
Luna glanced at the panel readouts. "The stardrive section is in  
  
trouble. I think we're going to have to accelerate the plan to phase  
  
two."  
  
"Agreed," Beverly answered. "Mr. Steiner, fire antimatter spread."  
  
"Aye, sir." Ensign Steiner activated a control on the tactical  
  
grid which released magnetic containers of antimatter attached at  
  
various points to the saucer. They shot out at and around the Borg ship  
  
in a dizzying display of pyrotechnics.  
  
'Now for the next step,' Crusher thought. "Launch the shuttle.  
  
Helm, evasive pattern delta four."  
  
  
  
Rubeus found his attention drawn to the saucer section. "So,  
  
you're hoping to sneak a team here, hoping to rescue Sailor Moon, hmm?  
  
Fools!" Deciding to preempt that strategy, Rubeus shifted the weapons  
  
system to concentrate on the saucer, and intensified scans for a shuttle.  
  
  
  
A bright flash announced the severing of the tractor beam. "We've  
  
terminated the tractor beam. Rubeus seems to be shifting his attention  
  
to the saucer section."  
  
"Well, he's going according to script so far," Artemis commented.  
  
"He's expecting the shuttle to have the away team on it."  
  
"Let's not disappoint him, at least as far as the away team goes."  
  
He took a deep breath before saying, "Riker to Picard. It's time,  
  
Captain. Good luck."  
  
"Hey, we'll tell you all about it when we get back from trashing  
  
that creep!" Jupiter's voice answered. Several enthusiastic cheers  
  
followed. Riker couldn't help but smile himself.  
  
"I'll echo those sentiments, Number One. Picard out."  
  
"I just hope there is a later," Riker said to himself. "Chief, drop  
  
the shields and beam them over."  
  
  
  
*Good luck, Raye. I hope you can get her back.*  
  
*Thanks, Deanna,* came the reply. Then more forcefully, *We will.*  
  
  
  
The away team materialized inside the Borg ship; Picard, Data and  
  
Worf all with their phasers drawn. The Scouts paused for a moment to  
  
take in their surroundings, then Mercury got busy scanning with her visor,  
  
while Data was utilized his tricorder. Venus shuddered inwardly. It was  
  
eerily like the simulations they had run earlier. "Gee, those holodecks  
  
are good!"  
  
"They do have their uses," Picard responded. "But not entirely  
  
accurate." He pointed to a nearby power distribution node which had a  
  
large crystal embedded in it. Other nearby ones were also similarly  
  
modified.  
  
"Interesting," Data said. "It would seem that the Borg power system  
  
has been modified. But I am uncertain as to why."  
  
"I think I know," Mercury answered. "It's to make it compatible  
  
with technology used in Rubeus' original ship."  
  
"Thereby allowing them to fully integrate his ship into the cube,"  
  
Picard said. He looked around. "As interesting as this is, we better  
  
get moving. Data, Mercury... are you getting any readings?"  
  
"Tricorder readings are limited. I am unable to get a fix on  
  
Sailor Moon."  
  
"Same here," Mercury said.  
  
Tuxedo Mask had been looking around through all this, as if he were  
  
listening to a distant voice. "It's there, but very faint," he said, his  
  
voice just above a whisper. He motioned them down a corridor. "This way.  
  
Hurry!"  
  
They followed him further into the Borg ship. "How does he know that?"  
  
Picard asked Sailor Mars. "He wasn't doing this on the holodeck."  
  
"Serena wasn't on the holodeck, either," she answered. "He's always  
  
been able to get to her whenever she's in danger. There's some sort of  
  
psychic link between the two of them."  
  
  
  
"Well, well," Rubeus remarked. "We have guests." He watched them  
  
make their way through the ship, unopposed for now. Other monitors show  
  
the two sections of the Enterprise still firing, but now at a more frantic  
  
pace and the stardrive section had also unleashed it's own antimatter  
  
barrage. He chose to let the automatic systems handle them, preferring  
  
instead to concentrate on the new arrivals.  
  
"So, they came all this way to get to Sailor Moon. It'd be a shame  
  
to disappoint them. But I should prepare a proper welcome for them."  
  
  
  
Roaming through the Borg ship was just as disturbing now as it been  
  
before. Everywhere they turned, other Borg were moving, performing  
  
various maintenance tasks or were lodged in their individualized slots.  
  
But so far, they made no move to impair the progress of the away team.  
  
Picard knew that would change before long.  
  
Tuxedo Mask stopped, and looked around. "She's close. Very close."  
  
"I am still not getting any other readings," said Data.  
  
"Me neither," added Mercury. "Wait a minute! I've got a large  
  
number of Borg closing on our location. All sides!" As she said this,  
  
several Borg came into view, advancing on the away team.  
  
"Looks like the free ride is over," Jupiter commented as she  
  
summoned her power. "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" Her attack struck two  
  
Borg and they collapsed amid a shower of sparks.  
  
Picard tapped his comm badge. "Picard to Enterprise. Encountering  
  
resistance." When there was no response, he tapped it again.  
  
"Enterprise, come in!"  
  
  
  
"The Borg have started jamming communications with the away team,"  
  
Steiner reported. "And I've lost the transporter locks on them as well.  
  
Communication with the stardrive section are unaffected for now."  
  
Beverly nodded. "Status of the shuttle?"  
  
"It's almost in position," Luna answered.  
  
Troi had a faraway look in her eyes as she listened to a voice only  
  
she could hear. "The Borg are trying to stop them, but their fighting  
  
their way through," she said.  
  
  
  
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" An thick blanket of fog descended in the  
  
corridors hiding them from view of the Borg. Simultaneously, Mars cried  
  
out "MARS FIRE IGNITE" and a wave of fire cleared an escape path for them,  
  
which they eagerly followed.  
  
They actually continued to move unimpeded for a while. Then two  
  
Borg tried to block their way. This time Venus took the initiative.  
  
"VENUS METEOR SHOWER!" The wide beam of light struck the Borg, rendering  
  
them inoperable. They pushed onward, only to be blocked by more Borg.  
  
The Starfleet officers fired as one, temporarily clearing the way.  
  
"I've got the power signature of the Silver Crystal!" Mercury  
  
exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, she's in here!" Heedless of the danger to himself, Tuxedo  
  
Mask raced into an adjoining chamber but stopped short when he saw what  
  
was in there. "No..." he whispered, horrified. The Scouts likewise  
  
halted, aghast at the sight before them.  
  
Only Mars was able to find her voice. "Serena, what have they done  
  
to you?" she whispered.  
  
  
  
On the main bridge, Troi stiffened as she heard Raye's thoughts and  
  
softly said, "Oh no!"  
  
"What is it?" Luna asked.  
  
"Serena. She's..."  
  
  
  
The Starfleet officers stood silent behind the Scouts. Worf and  
  
Data had seen this before.  
  
Picard had been it before.  
  
This was what he had feared they would find, but had hoped not to.  
  
Sailor Moon stood before them, having been implanted with Borg cybernetic  
  
devices much as Picard had been over a year before.  
  
Serena had been assimilated.  
  
Rubeus entered the room, and stood by Sailor Moon. "Greetings, I've  
  
been expecting you. Allow me to introduce you to... Sailor Borg."  
  
  
  
Next time: Sailor... Borg?  
  
The battle continues in the next chapter -- "In the name of the  
  
Moon..." 


	6. Chapter 6 - In the name of the Moon

Soton@aol.com  
  
  
  
Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
  
  
Chapter 6 - "In the name of the Moon..."  
  
The watcher leaned on her staff as she closely monitored the time  
  
flow. Now that the battle had been resumed in her universe, she could  
  
observe events directly instead of having to rely on Q for information.  
  
Which was just as well, for the crucial moment was fast  
  
approaching...  
  
  
  
They stood there, frozen in shock by the sight of the assimilated  
  
Sailor Moon.  
  
Then Tuxedo Mask went ballistic. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!!" he  
  
roared at Rubeus. He followed this up with a barrage of roses, then  
  
leapt at him. Rubeus blocked the floral attack with a series of force  
  
fields and hurled an energy blast at Tuxedo Mask. The tuxedo clad  
  
warrior hit the wall hard, and stood there for a moment, dazed.  
  
This galvanized the Scouts into action. The room echoed with  
  
their attack cries as they each hurled their most powerful attacks at  
  
Rubeus while the three Starfleet officers added their phasers to the  
  
fray. Their efforts came for naught, for each attack was blocked by a  
  
force field.  
  
Rubeus stood grinning at the futility of their efforts, "Resistance  
  
is futile!" As if they had been waiting for this signal, Borg drones  
  
came from every entrance onto the chamber and advanced on the away team.  
  
Through it all, Sailor Moon remained where she was, silent and as  
  
expressionless as any of the Borg around her... except for a single  
  
tear running down her cheek.  
  
  
  
"Troi to Riker."  
  
Riker involuntarily sat straighter in his chair. For her to contact  
  
him directly, rather than going through Beverly, whatever she had to say  
  
must be important indeed. "Go ahead, Deanna."  
  
"Will, I've just received a telepathic report from Sailor Mars."  
  
Troi looked over at Luna. "According to her, Sailor Moon has been  
  
assimilated."  
  
Artemis didn't immediately understand what she meant by that, but  
  
knew instantly that it wasn't good. Both O'Brien and Ro had tensed up  
  
when Troi made her announcement, and Riker had a grim look on his face.  
  
"What does that mean?" he heard Luna ask, her voice sounding puzzled.  
  
On the main bridge Troi and Crusher exchanged a look, each obviously  
  
reluctant to elaborate. Hearing a pause over the comm Riker took it upon  
  
himself to say, "It means that she is a Borg now."  
  
It took Luna a moment to comprehend but when she did, she uttered  
  
a loud cry of anguish. She turned to face Q, her expression clearly one  
  
of anger. For his part, Q merely looked bored. "Q!! It's your fault  
  
she's in this predicament! Get her off of there and back to normal!  
  
NOW!"  
  
"I'm afraid I can't do that," the entity replied, for some reason  
  
choosing to do so from the stardrive section. "I have my instructions to  
  
the contrary."  
  
On the battle bridge, Riker shot Q a sharp look. "From who?"  
  
"That, as they say, is for me to know and you to find out."  
  
Luna gathered herself, preparing to attack Q no matter the  
  
consequences. But before she could, she felt a restraining hand on her.  
  
"It won't accomplish anything," Beverly told her. "Besides, if the away  
  
team can get her back, I should be able restore her." 'I hope,' she  
  
added silently. "Now, what's the position of the shuttle?"  
  
Luna forced her attention back to the tactical display she had been  
  
monitoring. "It's... it's maneuvering into position, using thrusters  
  
only." The saucer trembled under the impact of weapons fire as she was  
  
giving this report.  
  
Riker saw the saucer take the hit. "Beverly, what's your status?"  
  
Crusher's voice sounded strained when she responded a moment later.  
  
"We've lost shields, and impulse engine one. But we still have phasers."  
  
Riker nodded just as the stardrive section itself shook from  
  
incoming fire. "You've done all you can, Beverly. Withdraw the saucer  
  
section to a safe distance. It's up to us now."  
  
There was a momentary pause from the other end. "Understood. Good  
  
luck, Will." The saucer banked as it began limping from the battle.  
  
"Shield strength is down to seventy five percent," reported O'Brien.  
  
He checked the sensor readouts, and reported more bad news. "The Borg  
  
just reestablished their EM field. Transporter use is impossible.  
  
Their shield strength is increasing, too."  
  
Riker nodded grimly. It was getting time to play their trump  
  
cards... and hope that Rubeus hadn't stacked the deck against them.  
  
"Begin charging the deflector, Chief. Stand by to fire on my mark."  
  
  
  
Inside the battle was over. Each member of the away team was held  
  
firmly by a Borg, save for Jupiter and Worf, who were struggling mightily  
  
against the hold two Borg held on each of them. Even then, it looked as  
  
if either one could break free if the Borg were any weaker. Scattered  
  
all around the floor were the bodies of Borg drones that had fallen in  
  
the struggle and the motionless form of Data.  
  
It had been a near thing, Picard reflected as he watched Rubeus  
  
gloat. It had merely amounted to a matter of numbers. There had simply  
  
been too many Borg for them to fight off.  
  
They had adapted to the phasers quickly enough, forcing the  
  
Enterprise crewmembers to resort to melee combat. This was fine for Data  
  
and Worf, but Picard quickly found himself immobilized. Worf was using  
  
his mekh'leth to good effect, but soon found himself grappled by two Borg  
  
drones that moved in on him while he was dealing with a third.  
  
The Scouts and Tuxedo Mask fared better. Rubeus not withstanding,  
  
the Borg were still, for whatever reason, unable to adapt to their powers  
  
and they took full advantage of this. But more kept coming despite the  
  
casualties they were taking, and one by one the Scouts were quelled.  
  
Even so they might have had a chance had Data not been deactivated.  
  
The android was moving to liberate Mercury, reasoning that her fog  
  
ability would enable him to free several of the others without hindrance  
  
and give them a chance to turn the tide. A Borg intercepted him,  
  
distracting him for a brief second. In that time, Rubeus teleported  
  
behind him and pressed a certain spot in the small of his back. Data  
  
had collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut. The captain grimaced  
  
as he realized how Rubeus must have known how to deactivate Data. Picard  
  
had known the location of the android's off switch and therefore, by  
  
virtue of his assimilation into the collective, so did the Borg. And  
  
that evidently extended to Rubeus as well.  
  
Picard involuntarily flinched as another Borg approached him and  
  
two talons extended from the back of it's hand. He pushed down the  
  
terror that arose at the thought of being assimilated again.  
  
He was momentarily spared that fate. "Not yet, my friends," Rubeus  
  
said. The Borg moved off. "There'll be time enough for that later.  
  
But first..." Two panels behind him shimmered and showed views of the  
  
two sections of the Enterprise. The stardrive was still firing  
  
constantly, but the saucer was evidently withdrawing from the battle.  
  
"Before you rejoin the collective, Picard, I'd thought I would show you  
  
the destruction of your pitiful starship." Before anyone else could  
  
say anything, he turned to Sailor Moon. "Sailor Borg..." Tuxedo Mask  
  
growled at that. "...destroy the Enterprise. Start with the saucer  
  
section first."  
  
She made no reply, but a glow came from the broach containing the  
  
Silver Crystal which intensified quickly. A beam emerged and struck the  
  
crystal projection on a nearby power distribution node causing it and  
  
others like it to glow as well.  
  
Mercury watched through her visor, which was still deployed,  
  
collecting data. The beam was running through the Borg power system,  
  
using the entire ship as a conduit for the weapon. Also, she could tell  
  
that the Silver Crystal was not drawing upon Sailor Moon's life energy,  
  
but instead was drawing upon the entire Borg collective, taking a  
  
minuscule bit from each until it added up into a massive amount.  
  
  
  
Riker stared at the screen as the Borg ship pulsated with that white  
  
glow again. Before he could give any orders, the intense beam of energy  
  
shot out from it, striking the saucer. When the main screen cleared, he  
  
was somewhat amazed that it was still there. "Riker to Crusher, report!"  
  
"We're alright, Will," the doctor answered. "Q protected us, just  
  
like he said he would."  
  
"Would I lie?" Q's voice came over the comm channel.  
  
Riker frowned and glanced over at Q standing beside him. Q returned  
  
the look with his usual smug look. "What's the matter, Riker? Can't  
  
believe I can be in two places at once?" As he said this the Borg struck  
  
again, this time at the stardrive section, also with no effect. "Oh,  
  
give it up already!" Q demanded irritably.  
  
  
  
Rubeus stared at the viewers in a nearly apoplectic rage. His  
  
ultimate weapon had fired twice and had hit both sections of the  
  
starship. Yet somehow, inexplicably, both remained in existence. "How  
  
can this be?" he muttered.  
  
"Having problems, Rubeus?" Picard inquired, his voice holding a  
  
hint of amusement.. When he saw both sections emerge unscathed from  
  
the attack, he felt his spirits rise a little. Perhaps there was still  
  
a chance after all. If not for them, then at least for his ship and  
  
crew.  
  
For his part, Rubeus was struggling to control his anger. Both  
  
sections of that starship should be dust now... even less than dust!  
  
There was no way this was possible, unless... He nodded. Yes, that  
  
must be the reason. Somehow, someway, a small part of Sailor Moon must  
  
be resisting his control over her.  
  
He took a moment to contemplate what to do about that. After all,  
  
it wouldn't do for the key to his triumphant return to resist him every  
  
step of the way. He had to have total control over her, body and mind.  
  
Her will to resist, her spirit, would have to be broken beyond repair.  
  
And he knew just how to do it. He turned to Sailor Borg and gave her a  
  
silent command through the collective.  
  
Mars watched Serena turn slowly and walk over to Tuxedo Mask, who  
  
remained silent himself as this grotesque parody of the woman he loved  
  
approached. She swore to herself the different kinds of hell she was  
  
going to visit on Rubeus for this atrocity. In her mind she felt Deanna  
  
council her to remain calm, but she ignored this advice, choosing instead  
  
to focus on breaking loose from the grip of the Borg holding her.  
  
Unfortunately she wasn't having any better luck than the others in that  
  
department.  
  
She froze momentarily, all thought of escape forgotten when she saw  
  
what Rubeus intended. Sailor Moon had stopped in front of Tuxedo Mask  
  
and her right hand shot out, gripping him by the throat and closing her  
  
hand. Rubeus was forcing Serena to kill Darien. "NO! Serena, don't!!"  
  
"You've got to break free, Sailor Moon!" Jupiter cried. Mercury  
  
and Venus also added their pleas.  
  
  
  
*Deanna, you've got to help me reach her!* Raye cried out mentally.  
  
*Please!*  
  
*I'll try, Raye,* the counselor sent back. She wasn't too confident  
  
she could reach her with her own limited psi abilities, but she  
  
nonetheless sent, *Sailor Moon! Listen to me!*  
  
  
  
"It really doesn't matter if your ship is destroyed or not," Rubeus  
  
said in a conversational tone. He might have been discussing the weather,  
  
as opposed to gloating over having one of his enemies throttle the other.  
  
"Soon this ship will leave, and the Enterprise won't be able to follow."  
  
"Where are you going?" Picard asked.  
  
"Not a place, Picard, but a time."  
  
Mercury stopped her entreaties to Sailor Moon for a moment. "You're  
  
taking this ship to Crystal Tokyo. To your own time."  
  
"Correct. My own ship's time travel capabilities were destroyed  
  
when I crossed over to Picard's universe, but the Borg have their own  
  
method which is much more efficient."  
  
Picard felt a cold lump form in his chest. "The Borg have time  
  
travel capabilities?" he breathed. In retrospect, he should have  
  
expected that. Sometimes it seemed as if there wasn't anything beyond  
  
the Borg.  
  
"Oh, yes, Picard," Rubeus laughed evilly. "We do..."  
  
  
  
"Sir, the Borg cube is emitting chronometric particles," O'Brien  
  
reported. "It's forming a temporal vortex."  
  
"Time travel," Riker said to no one in particular. He hadn't  
  
counted on the Borg having that ability. They'd have to work fast to  
  
stop them before it was too late. He looked over to Artemis. The white  
  
cat had been assigned a vacant station on the battle bridge and had been  
  
feeding Riker the same tactical information that Luna had been providing  
  
Crusher. "The shuttle...?"  
  
"In position!" the cat informed him.  
  
"Then proceed, Artemis." Time to play their first trump card.  
  
"Detonate the shuttle."  
  
"With pleasure." Artemis stabbed a control with his paw that sent  
  
out a signal to the shuttle, now positioned less than ten meters from the  
  
hull of the cube. On board the unmanned craft, ironically enough named  
  
"Einstein", a series of overrides were engaged and the containment fields  
  
for the ship's small warp core were disengaged. Simultaneously, magnetic  
  
fields separating a large quantity of antimatter from it's matter  
  
counterpart suddenly deteriorated and a series of explosive charges went  
  
off, forcing the two to mingle, causing a massive and uncontrolled  
  
matter/antimatter reaction. The resulting annihilation of tens of  
  
kilograms of antimatter and matter caused an explosion much larger than  
  
any photon torpedo... but one more akin to a warp core breach.  
  
The main viewscreen darkened as the computer automatically  
  
compensated for the sudden appearance of a small sun on the hull of the  
  
cube.  
  
  
  
The Borg ship rocked violently. "No!" cried out Rubeus, damage  
  
assessments from the collective flooding into his mind. The foremost of  
  
these was that the time warp ability had been damaged, and the time shift  
  
had to be aborted. "This can't be!" He glared at the Enterprise  
  
stardrive section on the main viewer. It's weapons couldn't have caused  
  
this, so what had happened? He focussed his attention on directing the  
  
drones to begin repairs to the cube. Once they were complete, he would  
  
crush that insignificant starship like a bug.  
  
Picard flicked his eyes back and forth between Rubeus and Sailor  
  
Moon. If there was a chance of reaching her, of her being able to break  
  
out from the control Rubeus had over her, now was the time. "Fight,  
  
Sailor Moon," he quietly urged her. "Don't let Rubeus control you. Fight  
  
against the hold he has on you. You can break through the control the  
  
Borg collective has on you. I've been able to do it, so can you!"  
  
  
  
Deanna closed her eyes tightly, trying desperately to reach Serena's  
  
suppressed personality. Unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck. Her  
  
own psi abilities were just too weak to pierce the Borg control.  
  
She felt a small form jump into her lap. "You're trying to reach  
  
Serena telepathically, aren't you Counselor?"  
  
"Yes, but I'm not having much luck."  
  
"Perhaps I can be of assistance." The crescent moon symbol on her  
  
forehead began glowing. "I can add my psi abilities to yours, and maybe  
  
together we can reach her." A beam lanced out and touched Troi's head,  
  
forging the link.  
  
The combined consciousness called out, *Serena!* At first they only  
  
perceived the cacophony of a multitude of voices echoing through the Borg  
  
collective. But beneath it they dimly heard a small voice.  
  
*Help me!*  
  
*We're here, Serena. Fight through the Borg unimind.*  
  
*Luna? Is that you?*  
  
*Yes, Serena. And Counselor Troi as well.*  
  
*Help me,* she cried out desperately. *He's making me kill Darien.  
  
I can't stop him!*  
  
*Yes you can,* the two responded, reassuring her. *We'll guide you,  
  
but you have to have the will to break through. If not for yourself,  
  
then for Darien.*  
  
  
  
The Scouts added their voices to Picard's, calling out even more  
  
urgently for Serena to resist. Picard stopped in midword. He wasn't  
  
sure, but he thought he had seen her grip loosen slightly... and was  
  
that a hint of awareness he saw in her eyes? Was she beginning to break  
  
the hold over her?  
  
Darien felt himself able to take a breath. Was her grip loosening?  
  
He looked in her eyes, and saw awareness flooding back into them.  
  
She blinked. "Darien?"  
  
"Fight it, Serena. Fight the Borg! Break free!"  
  
"Silence, all of you!" Rubeus had become aware of their actions.  
  
"She's completely under my control. Sailor Borg, I command you: kill  
  
Tuxedo Mask!"  
  
She blinked, and her grip relaxed visibly. Then, in a barely  
  
audible voice, she said one word: "No."  
  
  
  
"I think that got their attention," Riker noted with grim  
  
satisfaction. The matter/antimatter explosion had gouged a large hole in  
  
the side of the Borg ship. Several of the crystal spires on that side had  
  
been destroyed as well.  
  
"Very impressive," Q observed, not sounding particularly so.  
  
"What's your next trick going to be?"  
  
"Just you watch. Chief...?"  
  
O'Brien nodded. "Almost ready sir. The deflector will be fully  
  
charged in a moment."  
  
  
  
The watcher nodded to herself. The critical moment was now. All  
  
would be won or lost depending on the outcome of the next few minutes.  
  
  
  
Sailor Moon cried out as Rubeus brought the full weight of the Borg  
  
unimind to bear on her. She fought against being submerged again, but  
  
the sheer weight of the collective was simply too much for anyone.  
  
*YOU WILL DESTROY HIM, SAILOR BORG!*  
  
*No!* she cried out mentally. *I won't! I am Sailor Moon!*  
  
The others called out encouragement to Sailor Moon which was all  
  
they could really do, held as tightly as they were by the Borg. Suddenly,  
  
Picard realized that the grip of the Borg holding him had loosened. If  
  
he wanted, he could easily break free. But as far as he could tell, this  
  
didn't apply to the others. There wasn't much he could do alone. The  
  
Borg had already adapted to his phaser, but maybe if he could reach  
  
Worf's mekh'leth...  
  
*Locutus.*  
  
He started. Had he heard that inside his head? Yes, there was  
  
something there, almost a soft murmur in the back of his mind.  
  
Then all at once the realization struck him. Somehow, he *knew*  
  
that some part of the collective was still resisting Rubeus' control. And  
  
it was this part that was giving him the chance to get free, to do  
  
something. But what? Unbidden, an image appeared in his mind.  
  
Picard didn't bother to reason where this new information came from.  
  
He chose instead to act on it and twisted loose from his captor and took  
  
two quick strides towards Rubeus.  
  
Rubeus turned, briefly distracted. "What are you doing, Picard?!?"  
  
"This." The captain swung with all his might and punched Rubeus  
  
right in the nose, staggering him. It didn't really hurt him, but had  
  
the desired effect nevertheless.  
  
Sailor Moon gasped as the pressure Rubeus had been bringing on her  
  
suddenly eased. "My name is *not* Sailor Borg!" Her hand reached for  
  
the Silver Crystal.  
  
"MOON CRYSTAL HEALING ACTIVATION!"  
  
  
  
The watcher allowed herself a slight smile. Unless something  
  
happened to disrupt the timeflow, all should proceed smoothly now.  
  
Q didn't think she could break free of the collective. It would  
  
take him a while to pay off that bet.  
  
  
  
"Mr. O'Brien, fi--" Riker's voice trailed off in confusion. "What  
  
the hell?!?" The reason for his puzzlement was clear. The Borg ship had  
  
been surrounded by a white, diffuse aura. It was similar to the glow  
  
that had been seen before the super weapon had fired, but this seemed to  
  
have a softer, almost healing quality to it. A tendril of the energy  
  
emerged from the light and headed for the saucer.  
  
  
  
"Evasive!" Crusher ordered, seeing the wisp of energy approach.  
  
"Belay that!" Beverly looked sharply at the Counselor. Both she  
  
and Luna looked worn from their mind meld, but her eyes were clear.  
  
"It's not an attack, Beverly. In fact, I think it's going to be of  
  
great help to one of your patients."  
  
The doctor looked back at the screen. The energy tendril was  
  
nearly on top of them. "I hope you're right, Deanna." Instinctively  
  
she braced herself for the impact, but there was no shock from it. It  
  
simply passed right through the hull.  
  
  
  
Nurse Ogawa gasped and took a step backwards as a white glow  
  
emerged from the ceiling and enveloped Ensign Harris. The glow hid her  
  
from view for several moments but when it faded, her skin had resumed  
  
it's normal color, and there was no sign of the Borg implant.  
  
Ogawa immediately opened a medical tricorder and scanned her.  
  
"I don't believe it," she muttered, tapping her comm badge. "Ogawa to  
  
Dr. Crusher."  
  
"Go ahead, Alyssa."  
  
"Doctor, I'm not sure how, but all evidence of the Borg nanoprobes  
  
have been purged from Ensign Harris' body. She's completely back to  
  
normal."  
  
  
  
On the bridge, Luna nodded in satisfaction. "You did it, Serena."  
  
  
  
Picard squinted from the light emanating from Sailor Moon as he felt  
  
his way towards Data. The others were also trying to shield their eyes  
  
from the glare but could do little more as they were still on the grip of  
  
the Borg save for Rubeus, who was staring at Sailor Moon in utter  
  
disbelief. Finally making his was to the insensate android, Picard  
  
pressed the activation switch, and Data immediately sat up.  
  
At that moment the light faded, and a voice proudly proclaimed, "I  
  
am Sailor Moon!" The Scouts cheered while Picard noted with some  
  
amazement that her skin color had resumed it's normal hue and that there  
  
was no sign of the Borg implants that she had moments before.  
  
"Interesting," Data remarked. "It would seem that events have  
  
proceeded apace during my deactivation." He turned to his captain with  
  
a quizzical look. "Are we winning?"  
  
  
  
Silence reigned on the battle bridge as the crew stared at the Borg  
  
cube. All the various crystalline projections had been eliminated by  
  
the energy wave. It now looked like the typical Borg ship they had  
  
gotten used too, albeit with a large hole in one side.  
  
O'Brien found his voice first. "What the bloody hell was that?"  
  
"Offhand, I'd say that Sailor Moon just broke loose," Q remarked.  
  
"Probably that 'Moon Healing' something or other."  
  
"How about that... He does have a brain!"  
  
Q shot a glare at Artemis and snarled, "How would you like to visit  
  
Spot again, cat?"  
  
"Not now, Q," Riker said. "If they've been able to free Sailor  
  
Moon, then it's time to pull our people out of there. Chief, can you  
  
get a lock on the away team?"  
  
O'Brien checked the tactical board. "No, sir. The Borg EM field  
  
is still up. Wait a minute... I'm picking up a signal."  
  
Riker frowned. "Let's hear it."  
  
They heard once more that cold, toneless, many-as-one voice.  
  
"We are the Borg."  
  
"Uh, oh," Artemis remarked.  
  
"Yeah," O'Brien absently agreed. "They almost sound angry."  
  
  
  
The same voice echoed through the confines of the cube. "You will  
  
be assimilated. We will add your biological and technological  
  
distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile."  
  
Picard and Data didn't wait to hear the end of the Borg litany, nor  
  
for Rubeus' ranting protestations that followed. The captain grabbed  
  
Worf's mekh'leth from the floor and raced to free the Sailor Scout  
  
nearest him, in this case Jupiter. While not as skilled as Worf with  
  
the weapon, he did have some slight ability in handling it and was able  
  
to quickly dispatch one Borg holding her. His second slash with the  
  
weapon was halted by the other Borg that grabbed his arm and held it  
  
fast. He struggled to free his swordarm in vain and saw the Borg raise  
  
it's other arm, talons extended.  
  
Suddenly the Borg flailed about as it found itself being lifted up  
  
by Jupiter. Giving a wordless cry, the tall Scout heaved the Borg over  
  
her head and threw it with all her might, sending it crashing into the  
  
Borg holding Venus.  
  
Meanwhile, Data moved with android speed to liberate Mercury, intent  
  
on completing what he intended to do just before being deactivated. The  
  
Borg moved to stop him, but despite being much stronger than any organic  
  
being, it was no match for his android strength and was quickly  
  
dispatched.  
  
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"  
  
Rubeus peered through the now fog-enshrouded room. While he couldn't  
  
see anything, he was able to hear Venus give her attack cry (no doubt  
  
freeing Mars) to be joined seconds later by the other Scouts. Of course,  
  
thanks to Sailor Moon, he had no way of monitoring the battle, since his  
  
link to the Borg had been destroyed. But it was safe to assume that they  
  
all were free by now. "Damn you, Sailor Moon!"  
  
"Speak for yourself, Rubeus." He whirled to face the source of the  
  
voice. The fog was lifting, allowing him to see an outline of Sailor  
  
Moon. "You used me to try to kill my friends, to kill the man I love.  
  
And for that, you will *pay*."  
  
"We'll see about that," he snarled, taking a step in her direction.  
  
Before he could anything else though, he found his path blocked by red  
  
rose.  
  
"Yes, we will see," Tuxedo Mask said while moving next to Sailor  
  
Moon. Picard moved up on her other side, while the others lined up  
  
behind them.  
  
"It's over, Rubeus," Picard said.  
  
"Yeah, you're finished!" Mars added.  
  
"Do you think I fear you?" Rubeus ranted. "I was able to handle all  
  
the Scouts before. And even without the Borg, I still can --"  
  
"Oh, *shut up*," Picard said and fired his phaser at him. No  
  
forcefield blocked the beam this time, but it still did little more than  
  
stagger him.  
  
"I like your style, Captain," Tuxedo Mask said. "I think it's time  
  
to get rid of the garbage, right Sailor Moon?"  
  
"Right!" she agreed, producing her Moon Scepter. "You've caused us  
  
enough trouble, Rubeus! In the name of the Moon..."  
  
"...Mercury..."  
  
"...Venus..."  
  
"...Mars..."  
  
"...and Jupiter..."  
  
"...and the starship Enterprise," Data put in, getting into the  
  
spirit of things and drawing an odd look from Worf. Picard smiled  
  
slightly.  
  
"...we'll punish you!" they finished in unison.  
  
"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" The white beam lanced out at Rubeus,  
  
obscuring him. When it cleared, he was gone.  
  
"Did you forget I could teleport?" cam a voice from behind them.  
  
Spinning around, they saw Rubeus standing there, black energy crackling  
  
around his hand. "Any last words?"  
  
"Yes," Data answered. "Look behind you."  
  
"Android, that's the oldest trick ion the book. Do you really think  
  
I'm going to fall for tha- gak!" Rubeus grimaced as a cybernetic hand  
  
gripped his shoulder. It released him seconds later, giving one brief  
  
moment where he thought he was safe. Then he felt the nanoprobes surge  
  
through his system, altering his biochemistry, and he collapsed. He was  
  
being assimilated. "NO! This can't be happening! I am Rubeus!!"  
  
Several Borg moved past him, advancing on the Scouts, and the voice  
  
of the Borg collective spoke again: "Rubeus is irrelevant."  
  
"For once I agree with the Borg," Picard said.  
  
"Yeah, but we still got our work cut out for us," Venus said.  
  
"Then let's get to it," Sailor Moon said and the attack cries of the  
  
Scouts echoed through the area, along with a flurry of roses.  
  
"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!"  
  
"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"  
  
"MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST!"  
  
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"  
  
"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!"  
  
  
  
The stardrive trembled as the Borg resumed their attack on the ship  
  
as well. "They've locked a tractor beam on us. Shields are being  
  
drained," O'Brien cried out.  
  
"Let 'em have it, Chief," Riker responded. It was now time to play  
  
their ultimate trump card. "FIRE!"  
  
  
  
Geordi watched the warp core with concern as the flow of matter and  
  
antimatter into it accelerated, generating power well beyond it's  
  
designed specifications. All of this energy was then funneled to the  
  
main deflector dish.  
  
"Here goes nothing..."  
  
  
  
Riker held his breath as he waited for the deflector energy discharge  
  
to begin. The last time they had tried this, the Borg had already  
  
prepared themselves for the high frequency EM blast and it simply bounced  
  
off their shields. There was little reason to think that this ship was  
  
any less prepared for it, but there was a slight hope that they weren't  
  
able to absorb it as they had before.  
  
But if they did have the power to deflect the beam... Riker  
  
squelched that thought. If they were able to deflect it, it was very  
  
likely he wouldn't have to worry about it for very long.  
  
The beam emerged from the deflector and struck the cube in the  
  
center of the crater created by the shuttle explosion. For a brief  
  
second, it coruscated off a force field. But the Borg were depleted in  
  
energy reserves by the transit between the two universes and by the  
  
battle with the Enterprise, and the force field soon collapsed. The beam  
  
cut deep into the cube and Riker could see secondary explosions occur  
  
all along the facets of the cube.  
  
  
  
Inside the cube, things were rather chaotic. The ship was shaking  
  
violently, making it hard for them, with the exception of Data, to stay  
  
on their feet. About the only good thing was that the Borg had backed  
  
off, suddenly more concerned with repairing the ship. Picard watched  
  
without sympathy as the now assimilated Rubeus moved off to do the will  
  
of the collective. "What's happening?" Jupiter cried out.  
  
"I would surmise that the Enterprise has opened fire with the main  
  
deflector," Data responded as calm as ever.  
  
Mercury peered through her visor. "He's right. The power systems  
  
are going wild." This wasn't hard to believe, as all around them the  
  
power conduits and distribution nodes were exploding as they overloaded  
  
from the Enterprise's attack. "It's going to explode any minute!"  
  
"It would appear that it's time to leave," Picard noted, tapping his  
  
comm badge. "Picard to Enterprise." The ship gave a particularly  
  
violent lurch at that point and he would have been sent sprawling to the  
  
deck if Venus and Mars hadn't helped steady him. To one side, Jupiter  
  
was helping Worf in a similar manner. The Scouts were still able to  
  
retain some measure of footing, thanks to their greater strengths.  
  
Not sure if he missed the reply, Picard tried again. "Picard to  
  
Enterprise." No response came. "Something's interfering with  
  
communications!"  
  
Mercury made a quick mental adjustment to her visor. "The Borg are  
  
still jamming communications. Their EM field is also blocking  
  
transporter function as well."  
  
"Merde," said Picard. The shocked look he got from Sailor Venus  
  
indicated that she understood what he had said. "We have to get off  
  
this ship. Any suggestions?"  
  
"What about the Sailor Teleport?" asked Venus.  
  
Mercury nodded. "Yes. The energy jamming it must have been coming  
  
from the modifications Rubeus made to the ship, and Sailor Moon  
  
destroyed those."  
  
Jupiter looked concernedly around them. Their previous uses of  
  
the Sailor Teleport had been with only one extra person at most. This  
  
time they had Data, Worf and Picard to account for as well. "Can we  
  
take everyone with us?"  
  
"No choice," said Sailor Moon. "We have to try." The Scouts formed  
  
a circle, with the others standing in the center. Picard felt the hairs  
  
on the back of his neck rise as he hung to Data, trying to remain more or  
  
less on his feet.  
  
  
  
"I'm reading massive fluctuations in the Borg power generation  
  
grid," O'Brien reported. That was an understatement. The surface of  
  
the cube was alive with energy as random discharges skittered along the  
  
facets and several explosions could be seen as well. "It's going to blow  
  
any second, Commander."  
  
"Can you get a lock on the away team?" Riker asked again.  
  
"No, sir. That damned EM field is still there. But even if it  
  
wasn't, there's so many energy discharges that I'd doubt we'd be able to  
  
cut through all the interference."  
  
Riker didn't even bother asking Q. He had made it perfectly clear  
  
earlier that his only actions her would be protecting the Enterprise.  
  
He could try badgering the entity into helping, but right now he hadn't  
  
the time. His first priority was to see to the safety of the ship.  
  
"Cease fire. Ensign, bring us about and proceed away from the Borg ship  
  
at best possible speed."  
  
"Aye, sir," Ro and O'Brien responded after a brief moment of  
  
hesitation.  
  
  
  
Guinan stood by the large windows in Ten Forward. Being a civilian,  
  
she of course had no battle station. In fact, she really should be in  
  
her quarters now, like the rest of the Enterprise's civilian population.  
  
But she had never been one to remain there even during the fiercest  
  
fighting the ship had seen, and she wasn't about to start now.  
  
Besides, the battle was over for the most part. The saucer had  
  
long since withdrawn from the battle and she gazed in the general  
  
direction of where she thought the stardrive section was still confronting  
  
the Borg. Since they were far outside visual range, she could only guess  
  
what was happening out there.  
  
She turned suddenly and looked around the room, sensing something.  
  
Even so, she was still startled from the pulse of light. Nine people  
  
had instantly appeared in Ten Forward.  
  
The Scouts staggered, panting as if out of breath. "Whoa! That  
  
teleport really took it out of me!" Jupiter said in between breaths.  
  
Venus nodded. "Well... we never had to transport so many people  
  
before."  
  
"That was an interesting mode of travel," Picard observed.  
  
"Though I will stick to using the transporter, if you don't mind."  
  
  
  
The stardrive section raced away from the doomed ship, trying to put  
  
as much distance from it as possible. Since the main deflector had been  
  
burned out by the beam, it was restricted to running at impulse power,  
  
and even there it couldn't run anywhere near it's maximum speed. All  
  
too soon, cracks appeared all along the cube's surfaces and, with a  
  
mighty flash, the once mighty Borg vessel exploded.  
  
  
  
Crusher looked up at the sound of the forward turbolift doors opening  
  
and noted with relief that Data, Worf and Picard seemed none the worse  
  
for wear. But before she could say anything to them, the rear turbolift  
  
doors opened, revealing...  
  
"SERENA!" came Luna's joyful exclamation at seeing her unharmed.  
  
She vaulted onto the bridge railing and covered the distance between them  
  
in a rather prodigious leap.  
  
Sailor Moon gave her a gentle hug. "I'm OK, Luna."  
  
Picard turned to the viewscreen. He could see that the shockwave  
  
had already impacted with the stardrive sections, but was easily  
  
absorbed by it's shields. Still, it was continuing it's inexorable  
  
march towards them. "Shields status?"  
  
"They're out," Crusher answered. Then over the shipwide intercom,  
  
"All hands, brace for impact!" Seconds later, they felt the deck pitch  
  
violently when the shockwave hit the saucer section.  
  
"Didn't we just go through this?" Jupiter grumbled, picking herself  
  
off the deck.  
  
"Well, she did warn you," Mars pointed out, having grabbed onto the  
  
bridge railing herself.  
  
"Damage report!" Crusher ordered.  
  
"Both impulse engines are down now, and we've got an outer hull  
  
breach on decks twelve and thirteen," Steiner reported. "Contained  
  
with forcefields. We can still maneuver with thrusters."  
  
"Sounds like we were lucky," Picard remarked.  
  
"Very," Crusher replied. She got up from the command chair. "It's  
  
all yours again, Jean-Luc. I better go down and check on Sickbay."  
  
"Not so fast, Doctor. That can wait until we've put the ship back  
  
together."  
  
She smiled, "Well, if you insist, *sir*," and sat back down. "Helm,  
  
maneuver us to rendezvous with the stardrive section."  
  
"So it's over?" asked Sailor Mars.  
  
"The Borg ship destroyed and Rubeus along with it," he answered.  
  
"I'd say that qualifies as over." He glanced over at the Scouts and saw  
  
the looks of relief and joy in their faces. Even Sailor Moon was smiling  
  
as she and Tuxedo Mask embraced one another.  
  
Troi watched, concerned. She could sense that all wasn't quite  
  
right with Sailor Moon. She eyed the girl again, and this time saw the  
  
haunted look in her eyes. The Counselor sighed inwardly. She had seen  
  
the same look in the captain's eyes just over a year ago.  
  
It wasn't quite over just yet...  
  
  
  
Next time: Rubeus is dead (finally!), the Borg ship destroyed and Sailor  
  
Moon rescued. All would seem to be well, neh?  
  
Well, not quite. There are still a few issues to deal with in  
  
"Recovery". 


	7. Chapter 7 - Recovery

Soton@aol.com  
  
  
  
Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
  
  
Chapter 7 - Recovery  
  
The entity looked idly about the nexus, in his own way admiring  
  
the flow of time around him. Still, he was anything but pleased as he  
  
turned to his companion. "I still think I should just send them back  
  
right now," Q said, sounding a bit petulant. The figure next to him  
  
shook her head, stirring her long, green tinged hair.  
  
"That would not be a good idea. Sailor Moon needs time to  
  
adequately recover from her recent ordeal... which you bear some  
  
responsibility for, by the way." Q snorted disbelievingly. "Besides,  
  
they've earned a brief respite with all they've been through the previous  
  
two years."  
  
Q glowered at her and stifled the urge to transform her into a  
  
cartoonish dog. He had tried that once with her before, only to learn  
  
just how powerful she was in this domain. Of course, the fact that she  
  
had other friends within the Q Continuum didn't help matters either. It  
  
had been that incident that had led to his brief existence as a human.  
  
"Very well, Pluto. We'll do it your way."  
  
  
  
"Captain's Log, Stardate 45239.8: The Enterprise remains in the  
  
Scout's universe, albeit one hundred years in their future, and has  
  
limped into orbit around the Jovian moon Europa while Commander LaForge  
  
completes repairs to the ship. He estimates that it will be at least one  
  
week before repairs are complete enough for the ship to travel at warp  
  
speeds."  
  
  
  
"Counselor's Personal Log, Stardate 45239.9: Beverly has completed  
  
an examination of Serena and has told me that she found that all Borg  
  
implants in her were purged by the Silver Crystal, and that she has  
  
completely recovered... at least physically.  
  
"However, I am afraid that other aspects of her recovery will take  
  
much longer."  
  
  
  
"I just don't know what to do," Darien said.  
  
Troi watched the young man pace in her office. Even if he hadn't  
  
had a worried expression on his face, she could have been able to tell  
  
he was troubled, for it was radiating from him like a supernova. It had  
  
nearly been a full day since they had managed to extract Serena from the  
  
Borg ship. At first she had seemed fine, but since then she had become  
  
withdrawn, nearly locking herself in her quarters.  
  
Still, his pacing was starting to get on her nerves, and a  
  
counselor couldn't afford that. "Darien, sit down." After he hesitated  
  
a moment, she added an emphatic "Please!"  
  
He finally took a seat opposite from her. "Sorry. It's just  
  
that..."  
  
Deanna nodded. "I understand. You love her very much."  
  
"Yes," he replied shakily. "She's everything to me."  
  
"And yet, not long ago you broke up with her."  
  
He looked at her sharply. "You know about that?"  
  
"Yes," the counselor affirmed. "I've been talking with both Raye  
  
and Luna. I needed to know about her past if I was going to help her  
  
deal with what she's gone through." She gave him a moment to digest  
  
this information. "Why did you break up with her?"  
  
"Didn't Raye or Luna tell you?"  
  
"Yes," she acknowledged. "But I'd like to hear it from you."  
  
He took a deep breath. "OK. In a nutshell, I was having these  
  
dreams, night after night. They kept telling me that unless I stayed  
  
away from her, Serena would be hurt... maybe even killed."  
  
"And so you broke up with her based on a dream?" Troi asked  
  
skeptically.  
  
He got up and began pacing again, much to her displeasure. "You  
  
don't understand. I couldn't take the chance that she'd die. I'd do  
  
anything to prevent that. Even if it meant losing her."  
  
"Don't you think she feels the same?"  
  
Darien stopped his pacing. "What do you mean?"  
  
She got up and face him. "Think about it, Darien. Over the past  
  
few days, she was captured and assimilated by the Borg. Then she was  
  
forced by Rubeus, through the Borg, to try to destroy this ship, along  
  
with her friends, the other Scouts. Finally she was used by Rubeus to  
  
try to kill you. And given the love the two of you feel for each other,  
  
that has to have a devastating effect on her emotionally."  
  
"But it was Rubeus that was trying to kill me, not..." he objected.  
  
"I know," Troi interrupted him. "And on an intellectual level, so  
  
does she. But it's going to take some time for her to accept that on an  
  
emotional level." She paused for a moment to let him think this over.  
  
"Don't try to force the issue, Darien. When she's ready, she'll come to  
  
you."  
  
  
  
The sound of the Ten Forward doors opening attracted Guinan's  
  
attention. This was one of those 'dead hours' in the lounge, in the  
  
middle of the night shift, and it was nearly deserted. The vast majority  
  
of crew not on duty at this hour were in their quarters, sleeping. Of  
  
course, there were those in the crew that swore that she was always on  
  
duty, but that was utter nonsense.  
  
She was simply there when she was needed.  
  
She looked over to see who was entering at this time of night, but  
  
saw no one there. After a moment, the doors closed, as if on their own  
  
accord. She frowned, puzzled by the door's mysterious behavior.  
  
A glimpse of movement along the floor of the darkened lounge caught  
  
her eye. Looking in that direction, she spotted Luna moving towards the  
  
large windows lining the lounge. She nodded to herself, satisfied she  
  
had an explanation for the door opening.  
  
Luna jumped up onto the sill, and sat down, gazing silently at  
  
Europa spinning below the ship. Guinan watched her for several minutes,  
  
then moved over to join her. "Hello, Luna."  
  
The cat started when she spoke. "Oh. Good evening, Guinan."  
  
"Actually, it's very early in the morning."  
  
She looked startled. "Is it? I must have lost track of the  
  
time."  
  
"Being lost in your own thoughts will do that," the bartender  
  
answered. "Can I get you something? Some milk, perhaps?"  
  
"No, thank you." The cat returned her gaze outside, watching  
  
Europa spin slowly five hundred kilometers below them. Jupiter was  
  
just now rising above the horizon. It was a spectacular sight. The Red  
  
Spot was just over the terminator in daylight, and there where hundreds  
  
of storms below giving off lightning on the night side, as well as the  
  
auroras glowing in the upper layers. In short, a sight any astronomer  
  
would die for.  
  
Guinan ignored this and regarded the feline thoughtfully.  
  
"You're worried about Serena."  
  
The cat was silent for a time, but eventually nodded. "Yes. I've  
  
seen her go through a lot in the last two years, but I've never seen her  
  
like this." Luna was silent for a moment. "It's as if she's trying to  
  
distance herself as far from the rest of us as she can."  
  
"In a way, she is," Guinan acknowledged. "Part of her blames  
  
herself for what she did while she was assimilated by the Borg."  
  
Luna snorted. "Ridiculous! She had absolutely no control over  
  
that!"  
  
"You're right. She couldn't control it. And that will be the  
  
hardest thing for her to accept."  
  
Luna sighed. "We had an argument earlier," she admitted. "She  
  
accused me of not understanding what she's gone through, before she  
  
tossed me out of the room. And she's right. Much as I want to, I can't  
  
really understand what she's going through. I don't believe anyone  
  
really can."  
  
"Actually," Guinan observed ruefully, "There is someone who can."  
  
  
  
Locutus of Borg walked down the corridor of the Borg ship, then  
  
turned to face the communications monitor. At a mental command the  
  
screen flickered, showing the several of the commanding officers of the  
  
starships confronting the Borg. "Resistance is futile. You will  
  
deactivate your weapons and escort us to sector zero zero one. If you  
  
attempt to intervene... we will destroy you."  
  
"All ships, attack pattern alpha. Commence fire," ordered  
  
commanding officer of the fleet, Admiral Hansen. Locutus idly noted  
  
that he was known to Picard, who considered him a close friend. It  
  
didn't matter one way or another to Locutus. Friendship was irrelevant.  
  
Several starships raced in at maximum impulse and fired off volleys  
  
of phasers and photon torpedoes. Locutus directed the weapons at the  
  
nearest, the USS Melbourne. In a matter of seconds, it's shields were  
  
drained and the forward half of the primary hull had evaporated.  
  
Powerless, the hulk of the once proud starship drifted dead in space,  
  
it's crew dead or trying desperately to escape in lifepods.  
  
Ignoring the dead ship, Locutus turned his attention to the other  
  
ships in the fleet.  
  
And destroyed ship...  
  
...after ship...  
  
...after ship...  
  
  
  
"NOO!!"  
  
Picard bolted upright in his bed, sweat streaming down his face.  
  
He glanced around quickly before ascertaining that he was still in his  
  
quarters... still on the Enterprise. "A nightmare." And one about Wolf  
  
359 at that. He hadn't had one of those in quite some time. Still, one  
  
didn't have to be a trained psychologist like Counselor Troi to realize  
  
what had triggered it. Recent events had come a little to close to home  
  
for his taste. Especially when the voice from the collective had echoed  
  
in his mind. He still wasn't sure how that had happened. Was he still  
  
connected in some way to the collective? Could they use that against  
  
him? Or could he turn the tables and use this link against them?  
  
Those were questions for a later time. "Computer," he said, his  
  
voice raspy, "what is the time?"  
  
"Oh four twenty seven hours."  
  
Picard sighed. It was only another hour before it was time for him  
  
to get up. Deciding that he might as well get a head start on the day,  
  
he got out of bed, intending to head for the shower. But first... "Tea,  
  
Earl Grey, Hot."  
  
  
  
In another part of the Enterprise, someone else had also just  
  
woken up from a nightmare. Serena sat up in the bed shivering, not from  
  
cold, but from sheer terror. It was several moments before she realized  
  
just where she was and her pulse soon slow down to a more normal pace.  
  
She got out of bed and moved to the window, staring morosely out  
  
into space. The magnificent sight of Jupiter through the window did  
  
nothing to lighten her mood. Indeed, she wasn't really looking at the  
  
large gas giant at all. Instead, her thoughts were firmly rooted in  
  
recent events. 'I should have been able to stop them,' she thought.  
  
'I should have kept them from using the Silver Crystal as a weapon, from  
  
making me try to kill...' The memory overcame her and she began crying  
  
softly.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"I hate this place."  
  
  
  
A few hours later, the door opened and to admit someone into the  
  
room. Mina peered through the darkened room, 'Now, how do you turn on  
  
the lights around here?' After a moment it came to her. "Computer,  
  
lights on." Obediently, the computer turn the room lights to full  
  
illumination. She smiled and mentally congratulated herself on figuring  
  
that out.  
  
"Huh?" Seated by the room window, Serena blinked at the sudden  
  
change in the light level.  
  
Mina smiled and crossed over to her. "Serena, what are you doing  
  
sitting in the dark?"  
  
She shrugged and returned her gaze outside the window. "Nothing.  
  
Just thinking?"  
  
"Are you serious? Come on, girlfriend, this isn't the time for  
  
serious thinking. We just beat Rubeus and the Borg! This is a time to  
  
celebrate. And there's a big, wide starship to do it in out there."  
  
When she didn't reply Mina continued, "Come on, Serena. We're going to  
  
check out that holodeck thing and see what it can really do! Why don't  
  
you come with us?"  
  
Her reply was muffled. "You guys go ahead without me."  
  
"Serena..."  
  
"I said no!" she suddenly shouted, startling Mina with the  
  
vehemence of her reply. "Just go away and leave me alone!!"  
  
For the first time in a long while, Mina found herself at a loss  
  
for words. Finally she just nodded and left the room.  
  
The others met Mina outside. "Any luck?" Lita asked. Mina shook  
  
her head in response.  
  
They were silent for a moment. Finally Amy said, "I don't like  
  
this. The only time I can remember seeing her this bad was when Darien  
  
was kidnapped by the Negaverse."  
  
"You got that right," Raye murmured absently. Then in a louder  
  
tone, "Why don't you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later."  
  
"Where are you going?" Mina inquired.  
  
"To talk to Deanna. Maybe she can give us some advice about how  
  
to handle Serena." With that Raye headed down the corridor.  
  
"Come on you two," Lita urged. She started for the turbolift.  
  
"I don't know about you, but I've got a sudden craving to bust something  
  
up."  
  
"Like what?" Mina asked.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe we'll just run that Borg scenario, but this  
  
time put Rubeus' face on all the Borg."  
  
The three girls continued the rest of the way in silence, only  
  
pausing long enough for the doors to the holodeck to open sufficiently.  
  
They all stopped shortly after entering. They had expected to see the  
  
normal grid associated with a deactivated holodeck. But this scene was  
  
vastly different, telling them that the area was in use.  
  
The three girls looked around in confusion. "What's going on?"  
  
Lita asked. The scene before them was of a swampland and the air had a  
  
humid feel, with a low mist hanging. "I thought we had the holodeck  
  
reserved!"  
  
A look of consternation crossed Mina's face. "Ooops..."  
  
Lita turned to the blonde. "Mina, don't tell me you forgot?!?"  
  
"Er... Um..." she stammered. "Sorry..."  
  
"I'm sure there are other holodecks we could use," Amy suggested.  
  
"After all, it is still early in the day."  
  
"Yeah, you're right, Amy," Lita acquiesced, though she still  
  
sounded annoyed.  
  
Before any of them could move or call for the exit, a loud cry  
  
echoed through the area and a large form burst from the nearby bushes.  
  
It plowed right into Mina and Amy, knocking the two of them into a  
  
nearby pond.  
  
Lita instinctively readied herself as the creature charged at her.  
  
The tall girl deftly blocked it's attack, and she retaliated quickly,  
  
striking two quick blows to it's head before dealing it a sharp spin  
  
kick. The creature fell to the ground and didn't move. She was just  
  
starting to relax when a sound from behind her caused her to spin around.  
  
Worf stood there with Darien beside him, each holding a large curved  
  
weapon and looking as if they had been fighting creatures of this type  
  
for some time. "What are you doing here?" the Klingon demanded.  
  
"Sorry," Lita said. "We didn't know the holodeck was in use."  
  
"You should have checked the indicators before you entered," Worf  
  
said in an accusing tone.  
  
"Well, excuse us!" Mina groused as she and Amy tried futilely to  
  
wring their clothes out. "What kind of program do you call this anyway?"  
  
"According to Worf, this is his idea of morning calisthenics,"  
  
Darien answered her.  
  
"Calisthenics?!?" Amy said in a shocked voice. Mina stared at  
  
the security chief while Lita began looking around the room thoughtfully.  
  
Worf's ever present frowned deepened. He had known he was going to  
  
regret doing Deanna a favor and inviting Darien to join him this morning.  
  
Very few humans could appreciate a Klingon exercise program. Before he  
  
could say anything though Lita spoke up, "I don't know. I kinda like  
  
it."  
  
Worf instantly regarded the tall girl in a new light. If he didn't  
  
know better, he'd have said she had some Klingon blood in her.  
  
  
  
Deanna was looking over her schedule when the door chime sounded.  
  
*Come in, Raye.*  
  
In answer to her silent call, the door opened to admit the raven  
  
haired Sailor Scout. "How did you know..." Her voice trailed off as  
  
Troi looked up at her. "Never mind. I can guess how."  
  
Deanna smiled. "What's on your mind, Raye?"  
  
"Serena."  
  
"I had a feeling you wanted to talk about that," the counselor  
  
replied, her smile fading. "Have a seat." As Raye was doing so she  
  
continued, "I had a similar conversation with Darien last night.  
  
Afterwards I had an impromptu session with Serena."  
  
"And?"  
  
"She's erected a rather formidable emotional wall around herself.  
  
She feels a great sense of guilt over what she was forced to do by the  
  
Collective."  
  
"That sounds like the meatballhead," Raye muttered. "Feeling  
  
guilty over what she couldn't control."  
  
"Yes, but it's understandable," Troi replied. "She loves Darien  
  
intensely, and she feels similarly about the rest of the Sailor Scouts...  
  
and especially about you, Raye."  
  
"Give me a break, Deanna!" she retorted. "All we ever do is fight  
  
with each other!"  
  
"Raye, after talking to both of you, I've found you to be the  
  
closest thing to sisters without being blood relatives," Deanna said  
  
gently.  
  
"The only thing that matters right now is trying to get her of this  
  
shell she's put herself in," Raye replied, trying to avoid the issue.  
  
"Any ideas?"  
  
"I've got a couple," she answered. "First and foremost I think we  
  
should get her to talk with Captain Picard."  
  
"Huh? Why?"  
  
"About a year ago, he went through a similar experience," Troi  
  
explained. "He was captured by the Borg, and assimilated into the  
  
collective. Eventually we were able to recover him..." She paused.  
  
"But not before the Borg used him to destroy a fleet of Federation  
  
starships."  
  
"Wow." Raye pondered this information. "OK, so when's this gonna  
  
happen?"  
  
"Soon, I hope." Seeing Raye's expression she elaborated, "Captain  
  
Picard is a very private man. He's not one to open up to people...  
  
especially about this."  
  
"I don't care!" Raye exclaimed, suddenly standing up. "If his  
  
talking with Serena is going to help her, then he's going to do it.  
  
I'll go right up to the bridge and convince him myself if I have to!"  
  
Deanna sat back and regarded her thoughtfully. "Perhaps you  
  
should..."  
  
  
  
"As far as we can tell, Earth has no idea we're here," Riker said.  
  
Picard nodded as he sat down and looked over the desk at his first  
  
officer. "But the Earth here is in it's late twenty first century, and  
  
hasn't had it's technological development halted by a devastating World  
  
War as ours was. They must have some idea that something went on."  
  
"I don't see how they could miss it," Riker admitted. "There was a  
  
lot of fire being exchanged, not to mention the explosion of Rubeus'  
  
ship. Fortunately their bases on the Moon and Mars were out of position  
  
to effectively witness the battle, so that would leave ground or  
  
satellite based observations. With luck all they caught was a glimpse  
  
of us."  
  
"Well, the best thing for now would be to remain out of sight until  
  
Commander LaForge can get us ready to return home," Picard said. "Earth  
  
or no, the Prime Directive is in full effect here."  
  
"Agreed," Riker replied. "But I still would like to recommend..."  
  
His recommendation was interrupted by the ready room doors opening  
  
and Raye marching in. "I'd like to talk to you, Captain." She fixed a  
  
steely gaze on Riker, "Alone."  
  
Displeasure at this intrusion showed on the captain's face, but all  
  
he said was, "That will be all, Number One." The commander nodded and  
  
left the room. His voice deceptively calm, Picard said, "Now, Miss  
  
Hino, please have a seat and tell me what's on your mind."  
  
"I can answer that in one word: Serena."  
  
Picard's expression shifted to puzzlement. "I don't believe I  
  
understand."  
  
"I think you do. She's just been through hell, and you owe it to  
  
her to help her."  
  
"I see," Picard replied. "I'm sure Counselor Troi will do  
  
everything she can to aide in her recovery, but I..."  
  
"No, *you* owe her," Raye snapped. She leaned over the desk and  
  
leveled a finger at him. "If it wasn't for her, you'd be doing another  
  
tour of duty as Locutus!"  
  
The captain blanched slightly, telling Raye that her remark had hit  
  
home. Still, his voice remained even. "What would you suggest?"  
  
"Talk to her. You went through something similar. You should be  
  
able to help her get through this."  
  
"Very well, Miss Hino. I'll speak with her later this afternoon..."  
  
"*Now,*" Raye insisted.  
  
Picard had a feeling that he was being neatly maneuvered. "You're  
  
not going to leave here until I agree, are you?"  
  
She shook her head. "Nope."  
  
They stared determinedly at each other for several moment.  
  
Finally, "Very well, Miss Hino. I will contact Counselor Troi and have  
  
her bring Serena up as soon as possible." Immediately, the door slid  
  
open to admit Deanna and Serena into the ready room. Picard's eyes  
  
flicked from Raye to Troi as he belatedly realized that the two of them  
  
had conspired in this.  
  
Raye shrugged unabashedly. "Thanks, Captain. If you'll excuse me,  
  
I've got an appointment on Holodeck Three." She turned to exit, pausing  
  
to say, "Hi, Serena."  
  
"Hi, Raye," she murmured, not bringing her eyes up to look at her.  
  
Raye looked like she was going to say something else for a moment, but  
  
she simply looked back to Picard, her eyes taking on a pleading look.  
  
Sensing that the only thing she wanted was to help her friend,  
  
Picard's expression softened and he gave a slight nod to her. "Thank  
  
you, Counselor. That will be all." Raye and Deanna left, leaving the  
  
two of them together.  
  
Unsure were to begin, Picard cleared his throat uncomfortably and  
  
walked over to the replicator. "Would you like something to drink?  
  
Tea, perhaps?"  
  
She shrugged, not really caring one way or another. "Sure."  
  
"Tea, Earl Grey, hot. For two." The replicator hummed and the  
  
requested mugs materialized in short order. Picard handed one to Serena,  
  
and motioned her to a seat. "Please, sit down." The blonde girl sat  
  
down, and stared expressionlessly out the window. Picard returned to his  
  
seat and considered her for a moment, trying to determine the best way to  
  
proceed. "As hard as it is to believe, I know what you're going through,  
  
Serena."  
  
She looked sharply at him, showing real emotion for the first time  
  
since she entered. Rage. "Everyone keeps saying that! Well, how could  
  
you? How could anyone?!? I was the one they took over!" Tears welled  
  
up in her eyes, but she continued. "I almost killed the best friends  
  
I've ever had, the man I love! They..."  
  
She stopped her tirade, but Picard picked up where she left off.  
  
"They took all that you are; your powers, abilities and memories." He  
  
paused, memories flooding back of his time as a Borg. "They used you to  
  
kill, to destroy. You fought them as hard as you could, but you couldn't  
  
stop them. And yet, you feel you should have been able to stop them,  
  
somehow."  
  
She stared at him, some of the anger fading from her face. "How  
  
could you know..." she began, then her voice trailed off. She paused,  
  
suddenly remembering something from during her time as Sailor Borg. A  
  
memory from the Borg collective consciousness.  
  
A face.  
  
Picard's face.  
  
No, not him, precisely, but with cybernetic implants, like she had.  
  
A name surfaced to go along with it. "Locutus," she whispered.  
  
Picard nodded. "Yes. I was Locutus."  
  
"Then the same thing happened to you..."  
  
"A little over a year ago," he acknowledged. "A single Borg vessel  
  
invaded Federation space, and sought me out as their 'spokesman'. I was  
  
kidnapped, and assimilated, much as you were." His voice dropped to  
  
nearly a whisper as he recalled those brief, but horrible days. "They  
  
took my knowledge of Starfleet tactics and defenses and used it to  
  
destroy thirty nine starships at Wolf 359, killing thousands of  
  
Starfleet personnel. Some of them were friends that I had known for  
  
years." He paused and looked intently at Serena. "You did better than  
  
I did. At the critical time, you were able to overcome the Borg  
  
collective in your mind and regain control of yourself. The most I was  
  
able to do was give Data a one word message."  
  
"I was only able to do that because Rubeus was distracted by the  
  
Enterprise firing that energy weapon at the ship. If it hadn't I would  
  
have killed..." Her voice choked of at the memory of what she had almost  
  
been forced to do.  
  
"No," Picard insisted firmly. "Not you. Rubeus did, through the  
  
Borg. They used you..." He paused for a moment. "Used *us* to do those  
  
deeds. The blame for those actions rests entirely with them. It is  
  
something we both need to understand." He smiled slightly. "We both need  
  
to be able to forgive ourselves."  
  
Serena considered his words for several moments. Finally she said,  
  
"How do you deal with it?"  
  
"It's a day to day thing," he admitted. "The support of my family  
  
and friends is what helped me. It will also help you. And, like all  
  
nightmares, it will fade with the passage of time."  
  
"I can't exactly tell my family about this. They don't even know  
  
I'm a Sailor Scout."  
  
"True," he agreed. "But there are others you can rely on. Luna...  
  
the other Scouts... and Darien."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"They're concerned about you. It may not be my place to suggest  
  
this, but I think you should go to them and talk with them. Let them  
  
help you. And if you'd like, I'd be happy to have further conversations  
  
with you."  
  
After a minute, "Do... do you know where Darien is?"  
  
"That should be easy enough to find out," he answered. "Computer,  
  
location of Darien Chiba."  
  
"Darien Chiba is located on Holodeck Three," responded the computer.  
  
"Thanks," she said. Then, "Hey, wait a minute... Raye said she was  
  
going there! What's she doing down there with *my* Darien?!?" Before  
  
Picard do so much as suggest that they weren't alone, she turned and  
  
headed for the door, then hesitated there. "Um, how do you get to  
  
Holodeck Three?"  
  
Picard smiled. "I'll have someone escort you there." He got up  
  
and walked onto the bridge. "Number One, would you escort Serena to  
  
Holodeck Three?"  
  
"Of course, sir," responded the first officer. "If you'll come  
  
this way?"  
  
Picard watched them enter the turbolift, then returned to his desk  
  
to go through the various repair reports. 'Yes, we must forgive  
  
ourselves,' he thought. 'But I will never forgive the Borg for their  
  
actions. One day I will make them *pay* for what they've done.'  
  
  
  
As always, the door vanished behind them as they entered the  
  
holodeck. Riker looked around the scene that had been created,  
  
apparently an urban area of some sort. "I wonder what place this is  
  
supposed to be."  
  
"Juban," Serena answered. "It's where we live, on the outskirts of  
  
Tokyo."  
  
"Hmmm... that's interesting. I wonder why..." Riker spotted a  
  
familiar figure nearby, and walked up to him. "New program, Mr.  
  
Worf?"  
  
"No quite, Commander. It's a variation of..." He broke off as  
  
another figure approached the three of them. Riker recognized him  
  
instantly, Lt. Reginald Barclay, a first rate diagnostic engineer and an  
  
even better holodeck programmer.  
  
"Th-the holomatrix seems to be stable this time, sir," he told Worf,  
  
then nodded to the first officer. "Commander." He looked uncertainly  
  
Serena.  
  
Riker quickly said, "Lt. Barclay, this is Serena."  
  
"Hi," she said, looking around the area. "I thought the computer  
  
said Darien was here."  
  
"Oh, he is," Barclay responded and gestured behind him. "He's  
  
somewhere over there." He looked at her closely. "You wouldn't happen  
  
to be Sailor Moon, would you?"  
  
She hesitated a moment before answering. There wasn't much use  
  
trying to keep it a secret on this ship now. "Yeah. Why?"  
  
"Oh, good." He began typing on the padd he was holding. "I'd like  
  
to --"  
  
A crash from a nearby building interrupted him. A nearby window  
  
shattered, and Tuxedo Mask came flying out. He hit a nearby wall, and  
  
lay there stunned. Another figure appeared in the shattered remains of  
  
the window and hovered there and shouted,"I'm going to get you,  
  
cape boy!"  
  
Serena gasped. Zoisite! But how...? It didn't matter, she was  
  
getting ready to attack Darien, and he was still trying to gather his  
  
wits. She had to act now! "You're gonna be sorry you tangled with us  
  
again, Zoisite!" she shouted. Barclay looked up at her in alarm.  
  
Riker tried to stop her. "Wait a minute, Serena, it's just..."  
  
Too late. "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!" This was the first time the  
  
three Starfleet officers had seen any of the Scouts transform and they  
  
stood transfixed by the sight. Before anyone could react, she leapt  
  
forward, landing in front of Tuxedo Mask, Moon Scepter at the ready.  
  
"Tangling with us before wasn't lesson enough for you Zoisite? In case  
  
you've forgotten, I'm the champion of love and justice Sailor Moon!  
  
I right wrongs and triumph over evil! And that most definitely means  
  
you!"  
  
The hovering blonde laughed evilly. "Well, if it isn't the moon  
  
brat. Is that your rattle?"  
  
Sailor Moon gritted her teeth. "I'll rattle you!"  
  
"Wait! Stop!" Barclay cried.  
  
Too late as it turned out. "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" The white  
  
energy beam lanced out and struck Zoisite. The Negaverse General  
  
flickered for a second, then froze. "Huh?"  
  
"Program error," announced the computer.  
  
"Well, so much for the stability of the holomatrix," Barclay sighed.  
  
Sailor Moon didn't seem to hear him. "Program error? What does  
  
that mean?!?"  
  
Malachite appeared in the window. His expression tightened into  
  
one of rage when he saw Zoisite frozen in front of Sailor Moon. "You'll  
  
pay for that, Sailor Moon!"  
  
Sailor Moon gaped at him. "First Rubeus, then Zoisite, and now you!  
  
What is this, return of the dead guys week?"  
  
"Computer, freeze program," Worf said. Malachite froze in middle  
  
of hurling an energy blast at Sailor Moon.  
  
Luna came out of the building and looked at Worf. "What happened?"  
  
"Sailor Moon," Worf responded. "We hadn't put the parameters in  
  
her attack into the computer. It was unable to accurately process it  
  
into the program, and caused an error."  
  
"I was just about to do that, so fortunately the scanners were  
  
operating at maximum," Barclay put in. "They probably got enough  
  
information on her attack that we can run a computer analysis on it and  
  
reset the program to handle it. Computer: arch." The arch control  
  
panel appeared nearby and the engineer began working on the controls.  
  
"You mean this is one big computer game?" asked Sailor Moon,  
  
looking around. "Cool!"  
  
"This is not a game!" Worf responded sharply. Serena instinctively  
  
flinched from his tone of voice. "This is a training simulation."  
  
After in inquiring look from Riker, he continued in a calmer tone.  
  
"Luna asked me to devise a program to help the Scouts in their training.  
  
Since our security needs in this universe are minimal, I agreed.  
  
Commander LaForge recommended that we make use of Mr. Barclay's...  
  
expertise in this area."  
  
Sailor Moon had stopped listening to them, as she had gone over to  
  
Tuxedo Mask and was helping him to his feet. "Are you OK?" she asked.  
  
Before he replied, Darien glanced over at Riker, who caught the  
  
hint and nodded. After a quiet word to Worf and Barclay, the three  
  
officers left the holodeck. "I think I should be asking you that."  
  
Serena averted his gaze, and turned away. "I... I'm surprised you  
  
even want to talk with me."  
  
"Serena..."  
  
"I tried to kill you!" The tears began to flow once more.  
  
"Serena," he said again. Gently, he placed his hand beneath her  
  
chin and tuned her to face him. With his free hand, he removed the  
  
mask from his face and gazed into her eyes. "Rubeus tried to kill me.  
  
Not you. You stopped him in the end. You saved me... You saved all of  
  
us. THAT is what matters." They gazed at each other for a silent  
  
moment, then, as if by mutual agreement, they tightly embraced each  
  
other. "I love you, Serena. I always have, and always will. No matter  
  
what."  
  
Luna was watching this with a sense of satisfaction when she sensed  
  
someone behind her. She turned and saw the other Scouts standing  
  
silently, the smiles of happiness on their faces telling her that they  
  
were equally delighted by this turn of events.  
  
The cat returned her gaze forward and nodded to herself. It would  
  
be a long hard road ahead, but she was certain that Serena was well on the  
  
way to a complete recovery.  
  
  
  
Next time: You are cordially invited to a farewell party for the Sailor  
  
Scouts in Ten Forward. Q is not invited, but will likely show up anyway.  
  
  
  
  
  
Note: Picard's dream is based upon the Wolf 359 sequence shown in the  
  
beginning of "Emissary", the premiere episode of "Star Trek - Deep  
  
Space 9". 


	8. Epilogue

Soton@aol.com  
  
Sailor Trek: The Next Generation  
  
Epilogue  
  
"Captain's Log, Stardate 45242.5: Commander LaForge has repaired  
  
the ship with his customary efficiency. However, I have decide to forgo  
  
returning to our own universe for the time being. Firstly, on  
  
recommendation of my first officer, it is to take advantage of this  
  
unique opportunity to explore the immediate vicinity of Earth in this  
  
alternate universe. Secondly, and more importantly, it will afford  
  
Serena adequate time to make a sufficient recovery.  
  
"We owe her that much at least."  
  
"First Officer's Personal Log, Stardate 45290.3: Deanna has  
  
informed the Captain that Serena has made enough progress over the last  
  
month that she can return home. Q will return them home sometime  
  
tomorrow and so the ship is now on a return course for Earth.  
  
"I think I'll survive until then..."  
  
The main computer of a Galaxy class starship was not supposed to be  
  
prone to mistakes, but an observer near Ten Forward might have presumed  
  
that it made one this time as the nearby turbolift doors opened and no  
  
one stepped out. Eventually though, Riker emerged from it hesitantly  
  
and cautiously glanced up and down the corridor. Breathing a sigh of  
  
relief, he hefted his trombone case and made his way to the Ten Forward  
  
entrance.  
  
He had only a few steps when, "Hello, Will."  
  
The first officer started slightly before he realized who it was.  
  
"Counselor."  
  
"My, aren't we jumpy," Deanna commented. "In fact, I don't think  
  
I've seen you this nervous since we first met on Betazed."  
  
"It's been a rather... strenuous month."  
  
"Has it?" Troi asked, putting a naive tone in her voice. "I admit  
  
I've been rather busy with Serena, but I haven't noticed anything else out  
  
of the ordinary."  
  
Riker shot her a pained look, which only made her smile broader.  
  
She knew perfectly well what Riker had been talking about and he knew  
  
it. "It's easy for you to joke about. You're not the target of their...  
  
affections."  
  
"I don't believe this," she said with a laugh.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"You!" His expression made her laugh again. "I can't believe that  
  
you, Will Riker, who's had relationships with women all over the  
  
Federation..."  
  
"Deanna!" he protested. "They're half my age!"  
  
"...is frightened by the advances of two teenagers!" she continued.  
  
"You could handle the Borg, the Ferengi, Q... even my mother, but you  
  
can't handle Lita and Mina." She entered the lounge, still chuckling.  
  
After moment, Riker followed her in, "It's nice to know I can count  
  
on your support, Imzadi."  
  
To say the least, it had been an odd month even for the Sailor  
  
Scouts, Darien decided as he approached Serena's quarters. But it had  
  
not been an altogether unpleasant one. In fact, the Enterprise crew had  
  
gone out of their way to make it pleasant, from Riker teaching them to  
  
play Parisi's Squares to Chief O'Brien taking him kayaking on the holodeck  
  
yesterday. He was still sore from the experience, though O'Brien had  
  
fared worse with a separated shoulder. From the way Dr. Crusher was  
  
talking, it wasn't the first time this had happened either. She had made  
  
no bones about the fact that a man who had just become a father should be  
  
more careful.  
  
Of course, what had made it truly pleasant was that Serena was  
  
making good... no, excellent progress. After almost daily sessions with  
  
Counselor Troi, and frequent talks with Captain Picard, she had nearly  
  
fully recovered from this latest ordeal.  
  
He was about to touch the control for the door chime when suddenly  
  
opened. "Darien! Is something wrong?"  
  
He blinked, sure he was going to have to get her to hurry and get  
  
ready. "Nothing, Serena. I'm... just surprised you're ready to go."  
  
"Hey!" she protested. "It's not like I'm late *all* the time you  
  
know!"  
  
"Just most of the time," a voice from behind her said. Mina exited  
  
the room. "But not when someone is here to get her moving."  
  
"Thanks a lot, Mina."  
  
"No prob," the blonde replied, ignoring the icy stare Serena was  
  
giving her. "I'll you two alone for now. If I hurry I still might be  
  
able to catch Will alone in Ten Forward." With that she gave them a wave  
  
and hurried for the turbolift.  
  
"We're leaving today and she still hasn't given up on a romance  
  
with Riker?" Darien asked.  
  
"Nope. Neither's Lita," she answered, eliciting a groan. "Is  
  
there any reason they should?"  
  
He decided that any comment he could make would probably get him  
  
in trouble with her. "Shall we get going?" he asked offering her his  
  
arm. "After all, the guests of honor shouldn't be too late."  
  
Ten Forward was a little more crowded than usual, Picard reflected,  
  
but there was ample reason for that. After all, these eight and rather  
  
unique individuals were leaving the ship in a few hours, after having  
  
had been the ship for quite some time. It was only natural that many  
  
friendships had been formed between them and the crew.  
  
Still there was a slight sense of apprehension in the air, though  
  
maybe that was only his imagination. But that seemed to be the standard  
  
when Q was involved in anything. Fortunately he had limited his...  
  
visits to merely dropping in, usually at rather inconvenient time, and  
  
demanding to know when the Sailor Scouts were going to be ready to be  
  
sent home.  
  
It was a bit of a mystery why he simply hadn't done so on his own.  
  
It wasn't like he needed their approval to do anything. Not that he  
  
usually bothered to ask anyway.  
  
Picard approached the bar and looked at Guinan, who anticipated his  
  
question. "He's nearby," she said, "but not exactly in the immediate  
  
vicinity... not yet anyway."  
  
"The day's still young," the captain observed wryly. "Ah, I see  
  
our guests of honor have arrived." Indeed, at that moment Darien and  
  
Serena had entered the lounge, followed shortly by Dr. Crusher. The  
  
captain noted that young couple was slightly redfaced for some reason,  
  
while Beverly was sporting a slight "I've-got-a-secret" smile. "Doctor."  
  
"Captain," she replied as she strode up to the bar. Behind her,  
  
Serena and Darien met up with three of the other Scouts. Lita was still  
  
absent for some reason.  
  
"Is it a secret, Beverly, or can you share it with the rest of us?"  
  
"What do you mean, Jean-Luc?"  
  
"You look like the cat that swallowed the proverbial canary,"  
  
Picard replied.  
  
She hesitated before answering, "Let's just say that I walked in  
  
on our two lovebirds." Picard raised an eyebrow at this, prompting her  
  
to nudge him softly. "Don't get any ideas, Jean-Luc! They weren't  
  
doing anything more than kissing."  
  
The waiter, Ben, came up to the bar, but Guinan spoke first.  
  
"Don't tell me. One triple hot fudge sundae, right?"  
  
The younger man chuckled. "You're turning into a mind reader,  
  
Guinan."  
  
The bartender shook her head. "No, it's just the same thing  
  
Serena's been ordering every time she's in here."  
  
"Sometime's two or three a night," Ben replied.  
  
"Good Lord," Beverly said, astonished. "How does she do that and  
  
not gain weight?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Ben said, "But whatever her secret is, I bet Deanna  
  
would like to know."  
  
"So would I," the doctor agreed.  
  
Lita took a look at the time and shook her head. That side trip  
  
to sickbay had taken a little longer than she would've liked. "Great,  
  
I'm running late. I'm getting worse than Serena," she muttered while  
  
heading for the door. As always, the door opened automatically when  
  
she approached it and she moved rapidly through it.  
  
Or she would have, if Worf hadn't been standing there, and she  
  
ran right smack into him. Evidently the security chief had just  
  
arrived outside her door.  
  
Fortunately she wasn't going too fast, so all she did was knock the  
  
Klingon backwards a few steps. "I'm sorry! Are you OK, Worf?"  
  
"I am undamaged," He said while straightening out his sash. "I  
  
trust you have fully recovered as well?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, you mean my arm!" Unconsciously she rubbed her left  
  
forearm. It had been injured during a particularly rough episode in  
  
Worf's calisthenics program that morning. Her trip to sickbay was the  
  
main reason she was running late. "Yeah, Dr. Crusher fixed it up, no  
  
problem. But she did give me a hard time about the fact we were running  
  
the program at level five."  
  
"Good," he answered. "May we speak privately?"  
  
Lita frowned. She wanted to get to the party going on in Ten  
  
Forward, but if she learned one thing this past month is that Worf was  
  
not one for making idle requests. If he wanted to talk with her in  
  
private, it must be of some importance to him. Besides, she was curious  
  
about what was in that large case he was carrying. Well, there was only  
  
one way to find out. "Sure," she said and led the way back into her  
  
quarters.  
  
Worf followed her in and placed the case on the table but he didn't  
  
say anything at first. Instead he seemed to fidget as if he wasn't sure  
  
how to begin.She wasn't sure even after being around him for a month (he  
  
was an alien after all) but it seemed to her that Worf was nervous about  
  
something. What was he up to?  
  
"Well, Worf?" she prodded.  
  
Worf began, "As I understand it, Q will be transporting you and the  
  
others back to you own place and time."  
  
"Yeah. It's about time we got back. I mean, I like it here, but we  
  
can't stay forever." She glanced around the room, then glared at the  
  
replicator. "Still, that's not one thing I'll miss! I've barely been  
  
able to practice my cooking skills since we got here!" She gave the  
  
offending device another glare, then looked back to Worf. "Anyway,  
  
what's up? And what's in the case?"  
  
"A gift," he answered. He placed the case on the table and opened  
  
it, taking out a bat'leth. "From one warrior, to another."  
  
She stare at the weapon, unsure what to make of it. "Why?"  
  
"While we are both orphans, as I understand it you have no real  
  
family outside of the Sailor Scouts." At her nod, he continued, "I do  
  
have family, but most of them reside within the Empire... except for my  
  
son, Alexander, who lives with my human parents on Earth."  
  
"I'm not sure where this is going, Worf," Lita said, confusion  
  
showing on her face.  
  
"Allow me to finish. During the fight on the Borg ship, you saved  
  
my life on more than one occasion."  
  
"Well, you did the same for me... and the others too. There were a  
  
lot of drones to fight."  
  
"Yes," the Klingon rumbled, "Since that first battle on the bridge,  
  
I have come to respect the Sailor Scout's skills as warriors... but you  
  
in particular possess a warrior's spirit."  
  
"Thanks, Worf," she said adding a mental 'I think'.  
  
"It is a compliment," he told her, as if reading her mind. "Since  
  
the battle, I have felt that there was a bond between us... as warriors.  
  
And I would like you to accept this bat'leth as a symbol that, even  
  
though we are not blood related, we share a bond as strong as family."  
  
He handed her the Klingon weapon, "Lita, the House of Mogh would be  
  
honored to count you among us as a warrior... and as a sister."  
  
All eyes turned to greet the latecomers. Lita and Worf entered the  
  
lounge, each trying to appear relaxed despite being the center of  
  
attention. "It's about time you guys got here!" Mina said.  
  
"Sorry we're late," Lita tried to explain, placing a large meter  
  
long case on the floor, "It's just that we..."  
  
"I think we can guess what you two were doing," Raye put in,  
  
interrupting her.  
  
Serena looked up sharply at this. "You mean he looks like you old  
  
boyfriend?" Warming up his trombone, Riker caught this statement and  
  
started, causing a couple of very sour notes to emerge from his  
  
instrument. Smiling, he shrugged apologetically to the other band  
  
members.  
  
"I guess this means that Mina has a clear shot at Commander Riker,"  
  
Amy calmly stated. Mina perked up at this thought and looked to the  
  
band, smiling at the first officer who now paled visibly.  
  
Meanwhile both Lita and Worf were offering very vocal denials,  
  
which appeared to be having little effect. "I didn't know you went for  
  
younger women, Worf," Beverly said, getting into the spirit.  
  
"That is not the case, Doctor," he informed her with a glare.  
  
Fortunately the two latecomers were spared further embarrassment by  
  
the timely intervention of Data. "I think it highly unlikely that they  
  
were involved in any sexual activities," the android said.  
  
"Uh, why do you say that?" Raye asked. Beverly could see that they  
  
were showing sudden signs of discomfort at the turn the conversation was  
  
taking. Or at least the overt way the android was willing to discuss it.  
  
Oblivious to this, Data continued, "I have made an extensive study  
  
of the sexual practices of a variety of races, including Klingons. Sex  
  
among Klingons tends to be very... physical in nature, often causing a  
  
variety of injuries to the participants." Seeing the girls turn redder,  
  
Beverly decided to move in before Data could expound any further.  
  
Knowing the android as she did, he could go on for hours. And he did go  
  
on, saying, "Indeed, it is considered a sign of good fortune to fracture  
  
a clavicle on the wedding night. And..."  
  
She took the android by the arm and forcefully steered him to the  
  
bar. "Come on, Data. I'll buy you a drink."  
  
Data frowned, puzzled. "But... I already have a drink, Doctor."  
  
He indicated a nearly full glass.  
  
"Then I'll buy you another."  
  
The band was still playing, which was a tribute to their stamina as  
  
they were well into their third hour... or was it the fourth? Troi  
  
shook her head. No doubt Data could inform how long the party had been  
  
going on down the nearest second, but mere humanoids tend to lose track  
  
of time at events such as this. It was just as well that the strongest  
  
thing served were synthahol based beverages.  
  
Sensing someone approach, she turned to face Raye. "How does he do  
  
it?" she asked, indicating Riker. "Every time there's a break, both  
  
Lita and Mina are occupied by someone talking to them."  
  
"Starfleet officers are trained to have good timing," Deanna said  
  
with a smile. "And I believe he recruited some accomplices, most  
  
notably Geordi and Worf, to help shield him at those times. Why, were  
  
you hoping to see some fireworks?"  
  
"I was just curious," she replied defensively, then added, "Why  
  
didn't he get you to help? After all, I thought you two were... involved  
  
at one point."  
  
"We were. But Will know me better than to ask. I'd just tell him,  
  
'You're a big boy, Will. You can handle yourself against two  
  
teenagers.'" Besides, she found his discomfiture at their advances  
  
amusing.  
  
She picked up a sense of worry from the raven haired scout.  
  
Glancing over, she saw her watching Serena at the bar, where she and  
  
Darien were talking with Captain Picard. "You're still worried about  
  
her."  
  
Raye started. "Yeah. I mean, she seems normal now... for her,  
  
anyway." Deanna raised an eyebrow at the last, but forbode commenting.  
  
She knew that Raye only said that for appearances sake. And she knew  
  
that she knew. "But she's been through a lot."  
  
"True," Troi agreed. "She's made enough progress for her to  
  
continue without my supervision, but it will take a long time for her  
  
to completely put the experience completely behind her. For now, the  
  
best thing to do is let her take it at her own pace. Don't try to force  
  
the issue. If she wants to talk to you about it, she'll say so.  
  
Otherwise, just treat her as you normally would."  
  
Before Raye could reply, Artemis' voice came from beneath a nearby  
  
table. "I don't think you really want that to happen, Counselor."  
  
He *almost* succeeded in dodging Raye's kick.  
  
Mina frowned slightly and glanced across the room. She thought she  
  
had heard Artemis yelp, but all she saw in that general direction was  
  
Raye talking with Troi. Shrugging, she turned her attention back to the  
  
conversation with Geordi.  
  
The engineer was saying "...if she had kept that up, we might have  
  
found out if it's possible to drain a ship's power supply by overusing a  
  
replicator." He looked back at Mina. "Then again, I didn't think it  
  
was possible for someone to almost trigger a core breach just by hitting  
  
a couple of buttons."  
  
"Hey, I said I was sorry!"  
  
"Take it easy," he said with an apologetic laugh in his voice. "I  
  
was just kidding."  
  
"You had better be!" she fumed. Then her mood suddenly changed as  
  
she got a looked at the band. "Oh, Commander Riker's done playing.  
  
Excuse me."  
  
She began to move in his direction, but Data intercepted her first.  
  
"Excuse me, but I am curious. Why are you and Lita so... aggressive in  
  
your pursuit of Commander Riker?"  
  
She gaped at him. "Are you kidding? He's a major hunk, that's  
  
why!"  
  
A puzzled expression formed on Data's face. "Major hunk?"  
  
Geordi chuckled. For all his work at becoming more human, Data  
  
still didn't have a firm grip on slang. "She mean's he's good looking,  
  
Data."  
  
"That's what I said."  
  
"Ah." Data nodded, apparently satisfied. "That does seem to be  
  
the opinion of a majority of women."  
  
Mina froze in her tracks. "Huh?"  
  
"I have observed that Commander Riker seems to enjoy a great deal  
  
of success in matters of a romantic nature."  
  
Now it was Mina's turn to look puzzled. "How could you know  
  
anything about that? I thought you don't have emotions."  
  
"True," Data acknowledged. "I am not capable of feeling emotions  
  
themselves. However, I have had some experience in these areas."  
  
"My experiment in romance took place approximately three months ago.  
  
My previous sexual encounter was four years, three months, seven days,  
  
twelve hours, ten minutes and forty seven seconds ago."  
  
Mina reddened slightly and she spluttered "But... you're just a  
  
machine! How can you...?"  
  
When she didn't finish, Data asked, "How can I what?"  
  
"You know."  
  
"I think she means sex, Data," Geordi interpreted.  
  
"I see. You believe that I am incapable of performing sexually.  
  
However you are mistaken." Shocked, Mina stared, caught in the process  
  
of taking a sip. Oblivious to her discomforture, Data continued on, "I  
  
am fully functional, programmed in a multiple variety of pleasuring  
  
techniques."  
  
Geordi later reflected that it was simply bad luck she had been  
  
looking in his direction at the moment... and that her drink ended up  
  
being sprayed all over him.  
  
Amy looked up from the padd she was studying in the direction of  
  
the choking sounds. After satisfying herself that Mina was OK (and that  
  
Geordi and Data had the situation in hand) she returned her attention  
  
to the padd.  
  
Or rather, she tried to. A hand reached down and snatched it out  
  
of her grasp. Beverly Crusher examined the contents of the screen,  
  
ignoring Amy's cries of protest. "Just as I thought. Though I couldn't  
  
believe it when Lita pointed it out to me." Shaking her head, she sat  
  
down next to the blue haired girl. "Here we are, in the middle of a  
  
party, and you're studying?!?"  
  
"We've been gone for a month. It'll take me a while to catch up."  
  
"And I thought Wesley was bad," Beverly said with a sigh. "From  
  
what I've heard, Amy, you're usually far ahead of your class. Besides,  
  
you've been taking classes here on the Enterprise, so there won't be  
  
that much for you to catch up on. You're awfully young to be this  
  
driven." As soon as she said this, she was struck by a powerful sense  
  
of deja vu. How many times had she found herself in a similar position  
  
with Wesley?  
  
"I have to work hard. You know I'm planning on becoming a doctor  
  
one day."  
  
"Well, I can't say I disapprove of your choice of profession,"  
  
Beverly admitted. "But you should still take time out to relax and  
  
enjoy yourself, especially at this stage of your life. Your only young  
  
once. Besides, I believe you'll find that not much time has passed  
  
when you return home."  
  
Amy looked puzzled. "How can you be sure?"  
  
"Previous experiences with Q. And the first one was one too many."  
  
Beverly glanced around the room, but the entity had yet to make an  
  
appearance. Before she could say anything further to Amy, a loud splash  
  
resounded from the direction of the bar, accompanied by a distinctly  
  
feline yell.  
  
"Artemis!"  
  
A few moments earlier, Geordi was approaching the bar, wiping  
  
at his uniform without much success. "Here, Commander. You look like  
  
you could use this."  
  
He looked up and gratefully accepted the proffered towel. "Thanks,  
  
Reg." He sat down next to the diagnostic engineer and began cleaning  
  
his shirt as best as he could. As he did so, he idly noted that Luna  
  
was lying on the bar next to Barclay, looking very contented as the  
  
engineer scratched her back. "I didn't know you were a cat person."  
  
"Oh, I've always like cats, sir."  
  
"And he knows just where to scratch us, too," Luna put in between  
  
purrs.  
  
Geordi smiled. Leave it to Barclay to be able to get along well  
  
with cats, when not long ago he was barely able to talk with his  
  
crewmates. While he would never be called gregarious, he was much better  
  
than when he first came aboard. And he was a fine engineer. Speaking  
  
of which... "Hey Reg, I've been meaning to ask, how's the repair coming  
  
along on Holodeck Two?"  
  
"Oh, fine, sir. We've replaced almost half the blown isolinear  
  
chips." Barclay frowned and indicated Mina still having an animated  
  
discussion with Data. "Is it true she shorted out the control circuits  
  
by simply trying to alter the program parameters?"  
  
"That's what I've been told."  
  
"I don't understand. That... just can't happen," Barclay  
  
insisted.  
  
"You don't know Mina too well," another voice said. Luna opened  
  
one eye and saw that Artemis had hopped onto the bar.  
  
"I thought you were going to talk with Counselor Troi."  
  
He hesitated a moment, then cast a quick glance where Troi was  
  
still sitting with Raye before answering. "It was getting a little  
  
dangerous over there." The white cat winced slightly as he sat down  
  
next to Luna. "Ah, Commander Riker," he said, acknowledging the  
  
approaching first officer. "Did you decide it was safe to emerge from  
  
the band?"  
  
Riker checked around before answering. Data and Worf were keeping  
  
his would-be suitors busy. "For the moment. Safer than it's been at  
  
the poker table lately."  
  
"Poker?" Luna perked up at this, and she gave the Commander a  
  
disapproving look. "You haven't been playing poker with them, have  
  
you?"  
  
"Not them," Riker reassured her. He pointed to Artemis, who was  
  
now looking quite satisfied with himself. "Him. He's been cleaning  
  
up." He signaled Guinan for a drink.  
  
Luna sat up suddenly and stared at Artemis, shocked. "Artemis!"  
  
"Relax, Luna. It's only a game."  
  
The black cat fumed silently for a moment. "Perhaps it's just as  
  
well Q is sending us back today."  
  
Artemis grimaced. "You had to mention that twit, didn't you."  
  
"I'd be careful what you say about him. Remember what happened  
  
the last time you insulted him?"  
  
"Hah!" Artemis said smugly. "I checked with Data. Spot's not  
  
in heat anymore, and neither are any of the other female cats on this  
  
ship. And I doubt he can come up with anything more original either."  
  
Geordi and Riker both looked doubtful but before either could say  
  
anything, Guinan jumped as if she had been hit with a Klingon pain  
  
stick. She swung her head towards Artemis, "Look out!"  
  
"Huh?" Before the white feline could say anything more, a large  
  
globe of water formed over his head. It impossibly hovered over him  
  
for a second, and a disembodied voice could be heard saying "Oh,  
  
really? Well, chill out, cat."  
  
The water then fell down upon Artemis with a loud splash.  
  
There was a moment of stunned silence as those present gawked at  
  
the sight of the now soggy cat. He stood on the bar, shivering, his  
  
color slowly changing to a pale blue. "THAT'S C C-COLD!!"  
  
Picard eyed the commotion with a concerned expression. Not that  
  
there was much else he could do at the moment. Mina and Guinan were  
  
busy toweling the unfortunate Artemis off, while Beverly and Amy were  
  
checking his physical state with a tricorder and computer, respectively.  
  
"It would appear that Q has made his presence felt."  
  
"Great," Serena muttered. "That creep certainly knows how to ruin  
  
a party."  
  
Picard nodded ruefully. "Agreed. Unfortunately Serena, there's not  
  
much we can do about him. Afterall, it's not as if we can lock an  
  
omnipotent being in the brig."  
  
"Yeah," she agreed. "It doesn't help that he's all powerful too."  
  
Picard briefly considered, then rejected, the idea of telling her  
  
that was what he had said. In it's place he continued, "Still, there  
  
was this one time I was able to put him in his place."  
  
That peaked their curiosity. "Oh?" Darien said. "How so?"  
  
"It was about... oh, nearly two years ago now. Q had appeared on  
  
the bridge as is his wont..." He decided to gloss over the fact that Q  
  
had appeared on the bridge stark naked. "...claiming that his  
  
compatriots in the Q Continuum had stripped him of his powers.  
  
Naturally, we were all reluctant to believe him. Finally he yelled out  
  
'What must I do to convince you people?' Worf gave a very...  
  
appropriate answer." He paused, deliberately stringing the story out.  
  
"What'd he say?" Serena asked.  
  
Picard deepened his voice in a reasonable imitation of his security  
  
chief, "'Die.'." It had the desired effect. Both Serena and Darien  
  
smiled, and she added a small laugh as well. "Well, to make a long  
  
story short, since he apparently had no powers at the time, I decided to  
  
repay him for the trouble he had caused us over the years. I had Worf  
  
throw him in the brig."  
  
"Oh, very droll, Jean-Luc," a disembodied voice said just before  
  
resolving itself into Q.  
  
"Speak of the devil."  
  
Q didn't look amused, which pleased Picard to no end. "Here I go  
  
saving you and your precious ship and how do you repay me? By  
  
besmirching my good name."  
  
"For me to do that Q, you must first *have* a good name," Picard  
  
retorted.  
  
"You cut me to the quick, mon capitaine. And you didn't even have  
  
the curtesy to invite me to the festivities." He gave the captain a  
  
pained look. "Jean-Luc, I'm hurt."  
  
"You'll get over it."  
  
"Yes, I suppose so." The entity scanned over the room, "Well, I  
  
guess I should dress for the occasion."  
  
Picard frowned as Q snapped his fingers. Q had shown up in his  
  
usual garb, a Starfleet uniform with the rank (undeserved, of course) of  
  
captain. As everyone else was in either casual attire or their uniforms,  
  
he wasn't quite sure what to make of Q's comment. But he got a very good  
  
idea once the usual flare around Q faded.  
  
Q had shifted his attire from it's usual mode to a tuxedo and was  
  
wearing a mask. Now that he reflected on it, it was identical to  
  
Darien's outfit in his transformed state, a fact that wasn't lost on  
  
the Sailor Scouts. They were staring at him in wide eyed astonishment,  
  
Serena most of all. Darien had been shocked for a moment, but was now  
  
glaring at Q.  
  
"Tuxedo Q, at your service," he declared taking off his hat and  
  
bowing deeply to Serena. "Shall we dance?"  
  
Darien stepped between them. "I don't think so."  
  
The two of them stared eye to eye for several seconds, the tension  
  
between them palpable. Finally Serena spoke up, "Give it up, Q.  
  
Besides, that outfit looks way better on Darien."  
  
"That's for sure," Lita agreed as she approached with Worf.  
  
"Yes, it is outside my usual motif," Q agreed, shifting back to a  
  
Starfleet uniform. "Yes, that's much better. That tuxedo was just too  
  
stiff for someone of my nature... definitely fits his attitude better."  
  
Before Darien could respond, he added, "Tell me, do you always go into  
  
battle in formal wear?" Darien looked as if he was going to say  
  
something, but Serena took his arm first and pulled him towards the bar,  
  
but not before giving Q an icy glare. "My, she seems none too pleased  
  
with me. Was it something I said?" he asked Picard.  
  
"I would think it has something to do with being assimilated, Q,"  
  
the captain answered.  
  
"Oh really, Jean-Luc! I had nothing to do with it. All I did was  
  
bring them here."  
  
"Yeah, but you didn't exactly warn us about what was to happen  
  
either," Lita accused.  
  
"Do you expect me to lead you by the hand for the entirety of your  
  
existence?" Q retorted. "You humans keep crowing about learning by  
  
discovery, but when it comes down to it, you just want someone to hand  
  
you the answers on a platter."  
  
He was answered by a loud sneeze coming from the vicinity of the  
  
bar. Seeing Mina busy toweling Artemis off, Q sauntered over and  
  
remarked, "Ah, and I see someone dragged in a wet cat."  
  
"Very funny," came Artemis' muffled voice. He poked his head out  
  
from under the towel and scowled at the entity.  
  
Mina levelled an equally intense glower at the entity. "I hope  
  
your satisfied, Q. Artemis could catch his death of cold from this."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure that won't happen," Q blithely reassured her.  
  
"After all, you'll be there to nurse him back to health. Correct?"  
  
"Well, of course," she answered.  
  
Picard and Guinan shared a look, each sure there was something more  
  
to this exchange. Firstly because Q was not in the habit of saying  
  
anything nice about anyone. Secondly, the Sailor Scouts, and to a  
  
lesser extent Darien, were wide eyed in shock.  
  
Artemis' eyes had also grown wide, but his expression was more one  
  
of horror. "I'm doomed," he moaned in a soft voice. Mina snapped her  
  
gaze from Q to the drenched feline.  
  
"Artemis!"  
  
Q smiled, allowing the current emotions roiling in the room to  
  
linger for a moment. "Well, let it never be said I wasn't magnanimous,"  
  
he proclaimed and snapped his fingers. "There you are, Artemis... all  
  
dried off and any physical ailments attended to."  
  
Artemis found himself feeling warm and dry, and he shrugged himself  
  
out from under the towel. "Ah, much better."  
  
"I... wouldn't thank him just yet, Artemis," Mina said.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
She pointed. "Um... your fur?"  
  
Artemis twisted himself as best he could and looked where Mina  
  
pointed, then gasped. His fur looked as if someone had dumped him into  
  
a dryer set on the fluff cycle. "Q!!!" For his part, Q was looking  
  
insufferably smug. More so than usual, that is.  
  
"Is he always this annoying?" Lita asked while the entity was  
  
enjoying himself.  
  
Worf glanced at Q with a look of revulsion. "Yes."  
  
Q put an expression of shock on his face. "How rude of you,  
  
Microbrain! It appears you're just as sour as your prune juice."  
  
Lita looked doubtfully at Worf. "Prune juice?" She transferred the  
  
look to the glass Worf was holding. She had thought that it was some  
  
sort of Klingon beverage.  
  
"A warriors' drink," Worf said defensively.  
  
"Well," Q exclaimed at the sight of Lita and Worf standing together,  
  
"It looks like you two have hit it off. The amazon and the microbrain.  
  
Tell me Worf, am I invited to the wedding?"  
  
Worf glared at Q, refusing to be baited by him. Lita, on the  
  
other hand, was more demonstrative. "Let me zap him again!" She reached  
  
for her transformation pen, but Worf put a restraining arm on her.  
  
"Oh, let go of her, Microbrain. Let her try and 'zap' me with that  
  
pet dragon of hers."  
  
"Much as I'd like to see that happen, I'm afraid it wouldn't do any  
  
good," Riker commented. "He'll just keep popping up, like the proverbial  
  
bad penny."  
  
Q humphed. "I'm afraid you just don't appreciate my value here,  
  
Riker. Without me to spice up your life once in a while, the biggest  
  
thrill in your pitiful existence would be trying to get Microbrain here  
  
to smile." He turned to the Klingon. "What do you say, Worf? One  
  
smile, for little old moi?" Worf's only response was to snarl at Q.  
  
Picard decided it was time to intervene and try to put some  
  
restraints on Q before someone really lost their temper. And if it  
  
turned out to be one of the Scouts, that could cause serious damage in  
  
the lounge. "Q..." he said warningly. "...that's enough."  
  
Q heaved a frustrated sigh. Picard was always trying to curtail  
  
his entertainment. "Oh, very well, mon capitaine. But I'm afraid you  
  
are becoming rather stodgy in your old age." Ignoring the look Picard  
  
was giving him, he continued, "The Q Express is here, everyone! Say  
  
your goodbyes while your able!"  
  
There was a bit of commotion as the Scouts made their farewells to  
  
the Enterprise crew. Finally, Serena came up to Picard. "Thanks,  
  
Captain. For everything." Impulsively, she gave the captain a quick  
  
hug, much to his embarrassment.  
  
Darien settled for shaking his hand. "That goes for me too."  
  
Q appeared behind Picard and whispered conspiratorially in his  
  
ear, "Isn't she a bit young for you, mon capitaine?"  
  
Picard did his best to ignore the impish entity. "My best to you  
  
both. Good luck in whatever adventures lie ahead."  
  
"And what interesting adventures they are, too," Q pronounced.  
  
"What do you mean by that?!?" Lita challenged.  
  
"That, as they say, is for me to know and you to find out." Q  
  
gestured imperiously around the room. "All right, Sailor Scouts, time to  
  
go back home!" They were able to manage a last wave before Q snapped  
  
his fingers and they all vanished from Ten Forward. Continuing with  
  
his showmanship attitude, Q said, "Now, for my next trick..."  
  
"Save it, Q," Picard interrupted. "We'll get home our own way."  
  
"We have entered the Terran system, Captain," said Data. "Our  
  
approach vector should make it difficult for Earth to detect us until we  
  
reach the flux."  
  
Picard nodded as he resumed his seat. The party had broken up only  
  
a few moment after the departure of their guests, and the ship was now  
  
settling back into a more normal routine. Still, there was something  
  
missing now that the Scouts had departed, Picard reflected. It was a  
  
similar to the feeling he would get the few time he had returned to his  
  
ancestral home, the feeling of the empty house. Which was an odd feeling  
  
to have on a ship with over a thousand people on board. "Slow to impulse,  
  
Ensign Ro."  
  
"Are the warp engines ready, Geordi?" asked Riker.  
  
"Yes sir," the engineer reported. "I've got them set to emit a  
  
warp field at the proper frequency the moment we contact the flux. That  
  
ought to send us straight home."  
  
Q looked somewhat piqued. "Waste of time. I could send you home  
  
much faster."  
  
Riker made it a point to ignore Q for now. Maybe if he did it long  
  
enough, he'd go away. No, he couldn't get that lucky. He glanced around  
  
the bridge, then said to the captain, "You know, I'd gotten used to  
  
having them around. Somehow the ship seems emptier." Picard nodded  
  
in agreement.  
  
"You miss your girlfriends already?" Q quipped. "Well, if you're  
  
feeling lonely Riker, I could arrange for them to visit every now and  
  
then." Deanna tried, and didn't entirely succeed, to contain a chuckle  
  
at the look on the first officer's face. He transferred the glare from Q  
  
to her.  
  
"I've notice the same thing," Picard said, trying not to notice  
  
Riker's consternation. "They did have a way of making life...  
  
interesting."  
  
Q got a baffled look on his face. "Aren't we being needlessly  
  
maudlin here?" he observed  
  
The stillness of the temple was disturbed by a ripple of sound and  
  
six tall columns of light, accompanied by two smaller ones, that quickly  
  
resolved themselves into the Scouts, Darien and their feline companions.  
  
They looked around, verifying their location. That is, the humans  
  
looked around. Artemis immediately got to work on smoothing out his  
  
fluffed fur, while Luna helped. To their immense relief, they saw that  
  
they were in the temple courtyard. As promised, Q had sent them home.  
  
"That's a relief," Mina said. She looked around once more. "It  
  
doesn't look like much has changed. I wonder how long we've been gone?"  
  
Amy had already produced her computer and was using it to determine  
  
the local time. "It's the same day as it was when we left," she  
  
announced.  
  
"What?" Raye exclaimed and they crowded around Amy. Their  
  
collective jaws dropped when they saw the screen. "We've only been gone  
  
a couple of MINUTES?!?"  
  
"What the... we were on the Enterprise for over a month!" Lita  
  
asserted.  
  
"I should have guessed. We've already seen that Q can easily  
  
manipulate time and space," Amy said. "It's not that surprising that he  
  
could put us here right after we left."  
  
"Yeah, I guess that's true." Raye looked over to Serena. "But I  
  
bet even Q couldn't make Serena get anywhere on time."  
  
A keen observer could tell that she wasn't really serious by the  
  
gleam in her eyes, that she was only teasing the leader of the Sailor  
  
Scouts. Unfortunately,Serena wasn't feeling particularly observant at  
  
the moment, and she turned from Darien, bristling at this comment. "I  
  
can get anywhere I want on time, Raye! Quit bugging me!"  
  
"HAH! You were late for the meeting we were going to have last  
  
month... er, today! Like always!"  
  
"I was late because I had detention!"  
  
Raye felt her own temper flare, and she instinctively settled into  
  
old habits. "Probably because you were late for school again,  
  
Meatballhead!"  
  
"OOH... stop calling me MEATBALLHEAD, you, you... Pyro!"  
  
Luna sighed as the name calling war raged on. "Well, I see things  
  
are getting back to normal around here."  
  
"You got that right," said Artemis, still working on his fur.  
  
"Thbbbb!!" Both girls stuck out their tongues simultaneously, and  
  
the tongue war was on.  
  
"We're approaching the coordinates of the flux," Ro announced.  
  
"Still no indications that we have been detected," Data added.  
  
Picard nodded. It looked like they would get through this and  
  
cause only minimal disturbance to this Earth. "Reduce speed to one  
  
half impulse, Ensign. Steady as she goes."  
  
The Bajoran ensign nodded and made the necessary adjustments to the  
  
helm to guide the Enterprise forward into the flux. "Warp engines  
  
coming online," Geordi said. "We're moving through the flux. Power  
  
drain is occurring as predicted." As if emphasizing this point, the  
  
bridge lights flickered around them, as did the main viewscreen, during  
  
the transition between the two universes. But the ship soon emerged  
  
from the spatial anomaly and the systems steadied themselves.  
  
"All stop," ordered Riker, once they were clear.  
  
"Helm is answering all stop."  
  
Data did a quick scan of the area. "Sensors confirm that we are  
  
back in our own universe, sir."  
  
"The shipwide drain on all power systems was substantial,but all  
  
systems should be returning to normal shortly," reported Geordi. "The  
  
adjustments I made to the shields protected us from the worst of it."  
  
"Good," said Picard. He glanced over at Riker and gave a quick  
  
nod. It was time to implement the plan they had laid out.  
  
"Mr. Worf, stand by the modified torpedo."  
  
Q looked utterly astonished. "What?"  
  
"We're going to seal the quantum flux," explained Picard.  
  
"Interdimensional anomalies in space and time are very tricky  
  
things to be playing with, Jean-Luc. Especially if you don't fully  
  
understand their nature... which you don't. I wouldn't do this if I  
  
were you."  
  
Picard looked up at Q. "Well, I'm not you."  
  
"All the more reason you should listen to me," he insisted. "What  
  
possessed you to come up with this hare-brained scheme?"  
  
The captain endeavored to explain. "It's necessary, Q. We have  
  
to prevent the possibility of anyone from this universe, such as the  
  
Borg or the Romulans, from interfering in the affairs of that one."  
  
"Noble as always, mon capitaine," Q conceded. "But grossly  
  
misguided. Might I suggest you take some time to think this over?  
  
Say, a century of two so you can bone up on your interdimensional  
  
physics?"  
  
"Thank you for your advice," Picard answered dryly. "But no."  
  
Q threw his hands up in resignation. "Fine, all right, go ahead.  
  
Be a stubborn fool. But don't say I didn't warn you."  
  
"Fire." The torpedo shot out of the aft tube, and soon entered  
  
the flux. There was a brief flare when it detonated.  
  
Data watched the sensor readings. "The flux is sealed, sir."  
  
Pluto started. Something was forming in the timestream, something  
  
that should not be. She was going to have to plan quickly to prevent  
  
the damage to reality from becoming permanent. An idea came quickly to  
  
mind. Yes, perhaps they could be of some help.  
  
She shook her head, her long green tinged hair flowing in the  
  
breezes caused by the gateway. She was going to have to have a long  
  
talk with Q when this was resolved.  
  
Riker looked at Q, "I don't feel any different, Q." There was a  
  
mild gloating tone in his voice.  
  
For his part Q looked deadly serious. "The consequences from this  
  
action will take a while to catch up with you, Riker. And you won't be  
  
the only ones who feel them." He turned to Picard. "You'll regret you  
  
didn't listen to me, mon capitaine... mark my words." With that, he  
  
vanished in his usual manner, but not before muttering "She's not going  
  
to like this."  
  
"She?" Geordi asked. "Who's she?"  
  
Data shook his head. "I do not know." From the looks of it, no  
  
one else had any idea either.  
  
Picard uneasily watched the space where Q had stood a moment  
  
before. "Why do I have the feeling that he's right?" Perhaps he had  
  
dismissed the entity's warning too easily. He quickly shook off his  
  
misgivings. What was done was done. If Q was right, then they would  
  
face the consequences when they revealed themselves. "Ensign, set  
  
course for Starbase 215, Warp Six."  
  
"Course set."  
  
Picard brought his hand forward in that familiar chopping  
  
gesture. "Engage."  
  
END.  
  
  
  
Notes:  
  
As before, thanks to Gene Roddenberry and Naoko Takeuchi, for  
  
creating their respective genres.  
  
The threads left hanging aren't a slipup on my part... but a direct  
  
tie-in to the next chapter of the "Sailor Trek Saga", the DS9 story.  
  
There's also a couple of things that will be touched upon in the Voyager  
  
story as well  
  
Hey, I've got to entice you to read them somehow...  
  
Oh, if anyone's wondering, the relationship between Q and Pluto  
  
will be explained a little more there as well.  
  
According to my notes, I started work on the outline of this story  
  
early November '96, about five months after I started work on "Sailor  
  
Trek", though the ideas for it were starting to putter around my head for  
  
a while before that. The basics pretty much stayed the same throughout:  
  
a villain from the Sailor Moon universe, one presumed dead, gets  
  
transported into the Trek universe during the time of TNG and promptly  
  
takes over a Borg ship and causes a lot of trouble for the crew of the  
  
Enterprise D. And the story evolved from there.  
  
If anyone is wondering why I picked Rubeus, well as I said, I  
  
wanted a villain presumed dead in the Sailor Moon universe. And as all  
  
I know is the NA dub, that limits the choices drastically. Jeddite's  
  
return has been done too many times in other fanfics, the other Negaverse  
  
Generals were pretty well killed outright and ditto for Beryl, Al and  
  
Ann just went off to a new home, and the Four Sisters were healed. That  
  
leaves Rubeus, and I believe the explanation I gave for his entry into  
  
the trek universe doesn't violate Sailor Moon continuity too much.  
  
However, I must admit to an error in regards to TNG continuity. I  
  
had thought I picked stardates in between two episodes, but unfortunately  
  
the ones I selected put this story right smack in the middle of the  
  
season 5 two parter, "Unification", which guest starred Leonard Nimoy as  
  
Spock. By the time I caught the error, part 1 (where Amy asks the  
  
computer for the current stardate) had already been out for some time.  
  
So I was pretty much stuck with it. For purposes of TNG continuity,  
  
just consider this story as taking place shortly after the events  
  
depicted in the episode "Disaster" (two episodes prior to "Unification"),  
  
stardates notwithstanding.  
  
Or maybe I should just blame it all on Q. Hmmmm....  
  
Q: Don't even think it, my dear author. Unless you want to spend  
  
some time as a tribble... on the Klingon homeworld!  
  
  
  
  
  
Next up for the Sailor Trek Saga: Sailor Trek: Deep Space Nine -  
  
"A Sailor Paradox"  
  
It started out as a mission to investigate odd behavior by the wormhole.  
  
Now they're in another universe and faced with an impossible task: save  
  
Earth from being overrun by the forces of the Negaverse.  
  
Look on the bright side, Captain Sisko... at least the Dominion  
  
isn't involved.  
  
Or is it?  
  
Preview Snippet:  
  
Sisko turned to face the unfamiliar voice and stopped short. The  
  
wormhole aliens usually appear to be people he was familiar with, his  
  
coworkers on the station: Kira, Dax, Worf, Odo, Jake... even Quark. But  
  
he was completely unfamiliar with the person he was facing now, though  
  
there was something oddly familiar with her outfit. She was dressed in  
  
a odd version of a sailor outfit: white leotard, miniskirt, bows on the  
  
front and back all dark colored. She was carrying a staff that faintly  
  
resembled a key of some sort.  
  
And her hair... long, dark colored as well, but tinged with green.  
  
Sisko didn't think he would easily forget someone with hair matching  
  
that description. "Who are you?"  
  
Chapter One coming NLT October 13. (I hope)  
  
Planned:  
  
Sailor Trek - Voyager: Fate intertwines the two universe yet again as  
  
the Scouts meet up with the crew of the starship Voyager.  
  
Highlander Moon - The Scouts have an encounter with Duncan MacLeod of  
  
the clan MacLeod. 


End file.
